Best of the Rest
by Polka Dot Jewel
Summary: -Sequel to The Fake Engagement and The Time of Our Lives- We saw them grow up, now we see them watching one -or more?- of their own growing up.
1. Telling Everyone

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Here is the sequel! I meant to get this up earlier, but... a few blocks prevented me from doing so. Like I always say, please review and provide ideas when you have any! I hope you all enjoy this!**_  
_

"Mom, Dad..." Courtney sighed, looking up at her parents. "We've got something to tell you."

"Is it... bad?" her Mom questioned, looking back and forth between the married couple.

The two younger people glanced at each other. They shook their heads, murmuring a, "No..."

Courtney gathered up her courage and told her parents, "I'm pregnant." Her grip on Duncan's hand tightened as her parents sat there in silence, both wearing shocked expressions.

"You two just got married," her Father said.

Courtney nodded. "And we've already been together for a long time. I think we're ready to have a child."

"Having a child is a lot of work," her Mom explained. "Your child will take up so much of your time. Your careers will have to be put on the backburner for some time..."

"We know the... effects of having a child," Duncan quietly explained. "We know our focus will be put on the child more than anything, like our jobs and ourselves. But, you two and my parents have done it - my parents have been successful police officers since before my brothers and I were born, and you two are successful businesspeople."

"We're not disappointed in either of you," Courtney's Mom explained. "We just want you to know what you're getting into."

"It's a bit too late for that," Courtney murmured, smiling softly.

"How far along are you?" her Mom asked.

"Three and a half months," Courtney said.

"Oh." Her Mom paused for a moment before asking, "So this happened before you two got married..."

Courtney and Duncan sat there for a few moments in silence. They had been sexually active for a number of years now, and their suspicions about her parents not knowing were confirmed at that moment. Or maybe their parents were in denial up to this point.

"We, um... We waited until we were sure of our relationship and... other things... until we engaged in such activities," Courtney softly explained.

Both were bombarded with even more questions:

Had they been to the doctor? (Only in Hawaii, but they had set up an appointment that would be the following day.)

Were they making necessary preparations in their apartment? (They realized then that they needed to start on that.)

Have they informed their jobs of the news? (They were going to inform their bosses within the next few weeks.)

Were they really financially and emotionally stable enough to care for a child? (They hoped they were.)

They left at a time which seemed like hours later. They headed out in silence and sat in their car in silence for a bit of the drive. Neither were mad at each other, but they were still unwinding from their conversation with her parents. They were much more condescending than his parents, who were incredibly happy for the couple.

Both of Courtney's hands were laid across her stomach, and her eyes were shut as they drove along.

"Well..." Duncan started.

"I don't want to talk about it," Courtney softly said.

Duncan frowned, letting out a tiny sigh before turning on the radio, letting the music quietly play in their car. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her turn away from him and towards the window, her arms wrapped around her waist. He hated seeing her like this, and he so wanted to pull over and make her feel better, but he wasn't going to press it if she wasn't wanting to talk about it.

They soon arrived at their apartment, and Courtney quickly got out of the car. When Duncan walked into the apartment, the first thing she said to him was, "I'm sorry about the way I acted in the car."

He shrugged, taking a seat next to her on the couch. "You were upset. You know I wasn't about to push you."

She nodded, staring down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. "Do you think we made the right choice by telling them today?" she quietly asked.

He shrugged, resting his arms on the top of the couch. "I think so. You're starting to show, so if we had waited, they'd be upset we didn't tell them."

She nodded, leaning against the back of the couch. "I just... I don't want them to be disappointed."

He reached over and grabbed her hand, his thumb rubbing the top of her hand. "They're not disappointed."

"I think I would know if my parents were disappointed or not."

"They're surprised. I got the same speech from my parents."

"Really?" Courtney asked, turning to her husband with a surprised look on her face.

He nodded before shrugging. "My parents are worried we're a bit too young... but, at the same time, they're glad we're a bit younger..." He let out a sigh, a small smile on his lips. "You know who we need to tell now?"

"Who?"

"You know who."

---

"Dude, I still can't believe you knocked up Courtney."

"Eh, it was going to happen eventually."

Duncan and Geoff were standing around, first amused by one of the newer employees, but soon got bored and were casually chatting.

"You two are going to love being parents," Geoff told them. "Isabelle is just the sweetest, most precious thing in the whole entire world!"

Duncan chuckled. He was constantly hearing about his best friend's daughter. His mindset had changed once he was aware of Courtney's pregnancy. Before, he didn't care too much when Geoff and Bridgette would ramble on, for Isabelle wasn't his child. But, now he was more than attentive when Geoff and or Bridgette went on and on about their daughter. He knew there would be plenty of surprises, but wanted to be a bit knowledgeable about what would happen with his child.

"Is she talking yet?" Duncan asked.

"Nah, brah. She's kinda jabbering, but nothing too serious. She has this adorable laugh, though..." He sighed in content, a smile on his face.

"We'll have to come over sometime and-"

"Man, I got the perfect idea for you two!" Geoff interrupted.

Duncan raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "And what would that be?"

"You two could babysit Isabelle!"

Duncan shrugged. "Sure. That shouldn't be too hard."

Geoff laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, Duncan. Bridge and I thought the same thing until we went to those..." He pondered for a few moments before shrugging. "We thought the same thing until we went to those pregnancy classes..."

"Oh, those... those Lamaze classes?" Duncan asked.

Geoff shrugged. "I don't know, man. Don't think raising a child will be easy."

"Oh, I just think babysitting yours will be."

"We don't tell you the horror stories."

"Oh, please tell."

"She cries - _a lot_."

"Babies do that, Geoff."

"Alright, dude, with babies, for the longest time, all they're do is eat, poo, and sleep."

"I honestly don't expect my baby to be running after I bring it home."

"Their poo..." Geoff shuddered before continuing, "Their poo, man... It's _disgusting_."

Duncan frowned, scrunching his nose. "Oh, that's gross."

"Isn't there work to be done?" Aidan, another employee, grumpily asked.

"This is no one in here," Duncan slowly informed him, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't you have work to do?" Aidan asked, looking at Geoff, referring to his Manager duties.

"Uh, dude, I am working."

Duncan grinned, holding back his laughter. Geoff did some work earlier and was definitely going to do some later, but he was hardly working at the moment.

"I am overseeing the store," Geoff continued, a smug smirk on his face. He looked at his watch and said, "You know what, dude? You can go home. Take the rest of the day off."

Duncan and Geoff bumped knuckles as Aidan gathered his belongings, clocked out, and walked out of the store. Duncan looked up at the clock and said, "Dude, I'm supposed to be out of here by three."

Geoff looked up at the clock, noticing the time, which said 2:47. "You can go now if you want. A couple of people are coming in at three, anyway."

"Courtney will be pleased," Duncan said, smirking. "You sure you don't need me to do anything?"

"Nah, dude. Just study up on that Assistant Manager book I gave ya, because Corporate is supposed to visit in the next week."

"Gotcha." Duncan gave him a thumbs-up and said, "See ya bright'n'early tomorrow, boss."

Geoff chuckled. "Have fun at the doctor. Tell me how it goes."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be over for dinner," Duncan said, giving his friend a good-bye wave as he headed out of the building. He drove away and got on the highway, driving to Courtney's workplace. He got his phone out of his pocket and dialed her number.

"_Duncan, I'm at work_," Courtney briskly said.

"I know, I know. I'm just letting you know I'm on my way."

"_Oh... You're early_."

"You sound pleasantly surprised."

"_I've still got a bit of work to do_."

"Will we be able to make it to our 3:45 appointment?"

"_Of course, but you'll be waiting before I get finished_."

"That's perfectly fine."

"_Okay. I have to go, but I love you_."

"I love you, too."

Duncan only had to wait about ten minutes before his wife arrived outside. He was completely absorbed in his thoughts as she got into his car.

"A penny for your thoughts?" she teased, a light smile on her face.

He chuckled. "Just thinking about the baby, that's all."

A surprise look took over Courtney's face. "Really?"

He shrugged. "I'm sure you've been thinking a lot, too."

She shrugged, leaning back in her seat as she continued to look at him. "A little bit... I mean..."

"Don't say we've got all the time in the world," Duncan said, rolling his eyes.

"We kind of do."

"Um, not really. We're late to this whole thing."

"'_Late_'?"

"Yes."

Courtney sighed. "How are we 'late' to this whole thing?"

"You're fourteen weeks pregnant. You found out you were pregnant when you were basically three months along. Everyone finds out when they're, like..."

"Seven or eight weeks pregnant," Courtney murmured.

"Exactly."

"Well, excuse me for having virtually no symptoms to even show me that I'm pregnant!"

"That is pretty weird."

"The doctor in Hawaii thought it wasn't."

"We'll see what our doctor says."

---

"So, Doc..."

Courtney gaped at her husband, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed she was currently sitting down on. "Duncan!" she hissed.

"...Courtney had virtually no symptoms... well, she's barely had any during her pregnancy. Is that common?" Duncan asked, completely ignoring Courtney. He was looking at the Doctor with a very serious look on his face, but Courtney could still detect a hint of smugness. She assumed it was towards her, but wasn't sure.

Dr. Johnson pursed her lips as she looked at Courtney. "What symptoms did you have?" she asked.

Courtney thought for a moment. "Well, besides growing unnaturally bigger in a few certain areas, I had these weird sensations inside of me... They were like cramps, but it felt like this weird stretching as well..."

The Doctor smiled, nodding. "That would be your organs moving around, making room for the baby."

"I didn't have much nausea, though. I had a few minor headaches, and these past few weeks, certain scents have been driving me insane," Courtney continued.

Dr. Johnson nodded. "You're very lucky. I don't see too many women who don't have any kind of sickness during their first trimester."

"Damn," Duncan muttered.

"Do you have any questions?" Dr. Johnson asked.

"Am I healthy?" Courtney asked, being completely serious and honest.

Dr. Johnson gave the young woman a shrug and shook her head lightly. "You have a tiny pop, which is normal and good. You're a few pounds lighter than what you should be, but I'm not too surprised by that, considering you didn't realize you were pregnant until recently."

"A few pounds?" Courtney asked.

"You're about five pounds lighter than what I want you to be at. But, don't go home and eat a bunch of fattening foods just to quickly gain those pounds. Do make sure to eat healthy if you're already not, because you don't want to eat too many fattening and high-calorie foods. Your baby consumes the same things you do."

After talking for a while longer, Dr. Johnson said, "Well, I think that's all we need to do today."

"When will we know the results?" Courtney asked. Earlier in the visit, Courtney had some tests done, testing for a various amount of diseases in both herself and her baby.

"Within twenty-four hours. Normally we just contact you if there's something wrong, but if you would like..."

"Please, just call either of us, even if it's good," Courtney said.

Dr. Johnson nodded, smiling. "Will do."

"What about the ultrasound?" Duncan asked. "Doesn't she get one at every visit?"

The Doctor shook her head. "That's a bit of a misunderstanding. Women get one just to clarify the pregnancy, or if there's a chance of something being wrong. Neither concerns you, so we'll just do an ultrasound at the next appointment, which, if it's alright, will be six weeks from today."

Courtney frowned slightly. "Why six weeks?"

"It's easier if I see you at the beginning of each 'pregnant' month - you're fourteen weeks right now, and unless there's a problem when you're sixteen weeks, you don't have to come back until your twentieth week."

Courtney nodded. "Thank you, Dr. Johnson."

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you. I'll see you both soon."

When she walked out of the room, the couple sat there in silence for a few moments before Duncan asked, "You hungry, babe?"

"A little bit."


	2. First Movements

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: I didn't mean to take forever to update, but... I had this huge block for this chapter. That, and I'm re-starting two of my series ("Long Time, No Anything" for the TD series, and another story for another show), so I worked on those a bit... and I'm on vacation in Europe. I'll be back in a few days, and I'll just be resting up these next few days, so hopefully I'll have something up sooner. Thank you for all the reviews! I hope you all like this! **

Courtney laid on bed, her hand gently resting on her stomach. She had her eyes shut and was focusing immensely. On that day, she was able to feel her baby move for the first time. She had been in bed for at least thirty minutes, just laying there and concentrating on the human that was growing inside of her. She had the feeling it had been moving for a while now, but was preoccupied and wasn't thinking about her baby even moving yet until recently. She had worried that the baby moving around would feel weird and that she would be uncomfortable, but she thought of it as an amazing feeling.

Even though she heard the front door open, she wasn't about to get up. She knew it was Duncan and knew he would come and find her. She was too in love with the feeling of her baby moving around to get up or even call out to him.

"Courtney..." she heard him say as his footsteps grew closer to their bedroom. Suddenly he popped up in the doorway. He almost took a few steps too much before he stopped and turned to her. "Hey, there."

She smiled at him, but didn't say anything.

He rose an eyebrow, now confused. "Um... You okay?"

She nodded before quietly telling him, "I'm afraid the baby will stop moving if I start talking."

He chuckled, walking over to her. He bent down in front of their bed and told her, "I bet the baby loves to hear you talk, much like our dog."

Suddenly, a set of skidding steps could be heard quickly approaching them. The married couple laughed as their dog, Katie, stood in between them, wagging her tail happily.

"Where did you come from?" Duncan asked, rubbing the dogs head.

Katie barked, continuing to happily wag her tail, her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

Courtney smiled, gently scratching behind the dog's ears. "Katie's been such a good girl today," she murmured.

Duncan softly chuckled. "Are you feeling any better today?"

Courtney had woken up that day with a horrible headache. The two of them were supposed to go for a walk in the morning before he had to go to work, but she couldn't go. After minor back pains started to occur, she called her doctor, who gave her the okay to take a few pills to rid of some of the pain.

In response to his question, she nodded. "I still have minor back pains, but my headache is gone."

"This is probably your body making up for lack of telling you that you were pregnant those first few months."

Courtney glared at him. "The Doctor and I _already told you_-"

"_I know, I know_. I'm just messing with you."

She rolled her eyes, clearly not amused. "How was work?" she muttered.

"Good. Bridgette brought Isabelle by today, and... well, you know how Geoff gets when he sees his little one..."

"Are they still coming over tonight?" Courtney suddenly asked.

Duncan nodded. "They'll be over in a little while. Now, scoot over, please..."

Courtney just stared at him. Her face was basically daring him to say something like that again, or even try to do something. He stared back at her, the same expression on his face, but his face was more challenging. Neither was scared of one another... for the most part. There were a few fights where things got extremely intense and one (or both) was scared of the other, but at that moment in time, they were just playing around.

She sighed and scooted back, laying on her backside. She didn't say anything as Duncan happily hopped onto the bed.

He smiled at his wife and pushed some hair out of her face. "Thank you, sweetie."

She shrugged and couldn't help but smile as she laid a hand on her stomach. Her baby was still moving around, and it still felt amazing.

"I can't wait for the baby to kick," Duncan murmured, resting his hand on top of hers. He then added, "Though, Ma was telling me how uncomfortable you'll be later..."

Her smile widened as she reached over and softly caressed his cheek. "You know what?" she softly asked.

"Hmm?"

"I thought you'd be more cynical. Sarcastic. I thought you'd crack more jokes."

He shrugged, a twinkle in his eyes. "Ma taught me well."

"You don't want me calling your Mom crying because you said something."

He let out a boisterous laugh. "I don't want you calling your Mom, either! But..." He shrugged once more. "Can I be honest with you?"

"You should always be honest with me."

"Well, Ma was telling me how your hormones would go haywire... Well, you've been kinda chill." He paused before continuing, "Well, not necessarily relaxed, but you're just as snappy as you were before you got pregnant. But, I don't want to say something that'll send you completely over the edge and let all those crazy horomones come out and play..."

By the time he finished, she was grinning. "Thank you for being so considerate."

"Did Bridgette feel this way?" Duncan asked.

Courtney pursed her lips. "What do you mean?"

"Like... this happy and such."

"Oh, yes. She was much more happy than I am."

Duncan then pursed his lips. "You're not happy?"

"No, I am," Courtney corrected. "But she was, like... She was on cloud-nine. She was in a state of euphoria. Her and Geoff were actually trying to have children. While I'm happy, this all hasn't completely hit me yet."

He nodded. "I can't help but agree, babe."

"When do you think this'll hit us?" Courtney softly asked.

Duncan shrugged, slightly running a hand through her hair. "We'll be ready for this baby."

"Sure, financially we'll be ready. We'll have everything for this baby, like food, clothes, toys... all of that. But will we be ready?" Courtney asked, her eyes full of question.

He shrugged again. "We have no choice."

She nodded and looked into his eyes, which were directly looking into hers. "Promise me something," she softly said.

"I'll try," he softly said to her, frowning slightly.

"Whatever happens, like... to us, or either of us, or just in general... We have to give our child a life that was better than ours," she said, her voice choking up towards the end.

He smiled and leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "I can't promise you anything, and you really shouldn't, either, but we'll try our damn hardest," he murmured, pressing his forehead against hers.

"I just don't want our child hating us," she murmured tearfully, wiping away the few stray tears that fell down her cheeks.

He chuckled. "I don't mean to laugh, but... We never hated our parents. I don't think we'll do anything that extreme to where our kid will hate us."

"I hope you're right," she murmured, her voice still pained with unshed tears.

"We've got a long time before this baby even talks. I think what we should do is just worry about this baby's health and making sure it gets out alright," he softly told her.

She nodded, letting out a sigh as she then set up, her back resting against her upright pillows. Her hands rested on her protruding stomach. She loved and hated finally showing. Sometimes, she felt proud of her growing stomach, and other times, she felt like she just looked fat, and hated it. "Do I ever look fat to you?" she asked, looking down at her husband.

"No," he replied, sounding almost bored. She had been asking him that from time to time, and at first, it was cute, but now it seemed like she was convinced she just looked fat. "You're pregnant."

She made a scoffing noise. "I know I'm pregnant. My belly, though..." She sighed before continuing, "I know I've gotten bigger, and just... it seems like my stomach is just one big ol' non-pregnant bulge..."

Duncan let it go, immediately knowing what would cheer her up. He leaned over, gently resting his head on her stomach and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Mommy's crazy," he murmured to her stomach, instantly grinning when he heard Courtney giggle. He then lifted her shirt up and gave her stomach a soft kiss.

"There you go again, talking to the baby like it can actually hear you," Courtney muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Hey," Duncan immediately said, peering up at her. "Our baby can hear me."

She smiled, her hands resting on his head. "Yeah, yeah," she murmured. "I need to go out tomorrow and buy some new clothes."

"Growing out of your old ones?" When she nodded, he said, "Can't you just borrow some from Bridgette?"

"I'm not borrowing bras and underwear from her!"

"What? It's not like she's been wearing them recently."

"I'm not wearing... those things of hers!" She let out a sigh and continued, "I don't think she has those anymore, anyway. That, and we're not the same size. You know she's smaller than me."

"In a lot of ways."

Courtney glared at her husband, who winked at her in return. "You know it's true," he told her.

"I'm serious, Duncan."

"Fine. We'll go shopping tomorrow. You can get all dolled up and buy some pretty clothes..."

"Please, shut up."

"Or you could buy some sexy lingerie..."

"I barely feel comfortable having sex now that I'm starting to show."

"But, if I remember correctly, sex is a little bit better... not that it was ever bad."

Despite the roll of her eyes, her face was now flushed. He always knew how to make her squirm, for, even after all these years, he still just spoke without thinking... most of the time. "Only because of my hormones," she hastily muttered.

"Mmhmm."

Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door. The two of them just stared at each other, hoping the other would get up to answer the door.

"Let's both get the door," Courtney said, smiling at her husband as she softly stroked his cheek.

He chuckled and quickly sat up. He watched Courtney as she slowly scooted over to the side of the bed. "You alright?" he softly asked.

She nodded, taking his hand in hers as they walked down the hallway. "It's just a little backache," she softly said.

"Do you need any medicine?"

She shook her head as she looked through the peephole. She remained there for a moment before softly saying, "Call Bridge and Geoff, and tell them we need to reschedule."

"Why?" he asked, alarmed.

"Our parents are here," she quietly said.

He furrowed his eyebrows before letting out a loud sigh. "_Really_?" he groaned.

She nodded. "Just go call them." She waited until he had walked into another room before opening the door, a wide smile on her face. She wasn't entirely happy to see them, but wasn't about to let that show. "Hello!"

"Oh, my, you're already showing!" her Mom said, her face showing clear shock.

Courtney nodded, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. It was as if her Mom forgot that she was pregnant, or that she wasn't as far along as she was. "I am four months pregnant."

"Where's Duncan?" his Mom asked.

"He's finishing up a phone call," Courtney informed them. She then asked, "Not that I'm not happy to see you all, but what are you doing here?"

"We're taking you out to dinner!" her Mom enthusiastically said.

"We're going out to dinner?" Duncan asked, appearing beside Courtney and wrapping his arm around her waist. For some reason, it still bugged her parents to see him touching her, whether he was hugging her or just holding her hand. He noticed his Mom glancing at his hand, making sure he didn't inappropriately grab her. He had to control his smirk and make sure it didn't get too big, or suspicious, as he thought about all the ways he touched Courtney, knowing if her Mom found out, it would make her go insane.

"Yes, to just celebrate and have a... a nice, family dinner," his Mom said.

The newly-married couple remained silent. Their parents were never ones to coordinate activities together. The two sets of parents hardly spoke to each other outside of events Courtney and Duncan may have set up. It's not that they disliked each other, it's that they led separate lives in separate towns.

"How about you all come inside and wait for us while we get ready?" Courtney asked, stepping out of the doorway.

Duncan remained silent as he was basically dragged through their apartment by his wife. He wasn't entirely mad at them, but it wasn't like them to show up out of the blue.

"Just act like you're happy to see them," Courtney muttered after they entered their bedroom and shut their door. She started to put on a slightly form-fitting, yet loose, summer dress as her husband began to rant.

"They can't just barge in here and expect us to drop everything!" he crossly muttered, throwing off his shirt and beginning to look for a new one.

"Look, I'm not extremely happy, either, but you don't see me yelling or screaming about it," she said, walking into the bathroom.

"You hardly do that outside of television," he pointed out, smirking lightly as he threw on another shirt.

She sighed, a small smile forming on her face. She began to brush her hair as her husband walked into the doorway. "That show brought out the worst in everyone."

"Nah. Just you." He winced when she forcefully punched his arm. That was always a sore subject for her, and now that she was pregnant, he then realized he shouldn't have brought that up.

"Asshole," she darkly muttered, obviously extremely mad and upset.

He sighed, walking behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He held on a bit tighter as she tried to walk away from him.

"Duncan," she warned.

"I'm sorry," he softly and slowly said. "I shouldn't have said that, okay?"

She let out a loud sigh, tossing the brush onto the counter. She crossed her arms, with them resting on top of Duncan's. She rested her head back on his chest. "How can you just bring up that stuff so... nonchalantly?"

He shrugged, resting his head on top of hers. "I always forget how emotional you get whenever I talk about it."

"I can tell," she snapped.

He sighed, kissing the top of her head. "We're going to walk out and your parents will freak when they see you're pissed."

"All of our parents will."

"And they're going to blame me."

She began to smile. "That they will."

He chuckled, swaying them around. "My pain has always and will forever be your enjoyment, huh?"

"Of course."

"Such a strange fetish, my dear."

She rolled her eyes, a smile still planted on her face. "I don't get entirely turned on by it."

He was about to make a remark towards that when a knocking was heard at their bedroom door.

"Come on, you two! Dinner isn't going to wait for you!"

"It better," Duncan murmured at Courtney's Mom's comment.

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Just be nice. Please. I don't want my Mom nagging at you and about our baby."

"She better not say anything about our child, or I will go off on her."

"Ugh, please don't."

"Uh, it's my child, too. If she has something negative to say about our child, then I will tell her straight up to shut the fu-"

"Come on, you two!"

"Coming!" Courtney hurriedly said, pushing her husband out of the bathroom and eventually out of their bedroom. She sighed and muttered, "They all probably thought we were screwing around."

"I wouldn't mind that right now."

Courtney remained silent for a moment before saying, "Neither would I."

* * *

"Courtney, sweetie, I think you're a little too big to be four months along."

Duncan rolled his eyes. It was only five minutes after they all sat down when her Mother just had to bring up something about Courtney's pregnancy.

Courtney furrowed her eyebrows, staring at her Mom inquisitively. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, when I was four months, when I was barely showing. Same with all of my girlfriends. None of us hardly showed until around our fifth month. Well, except for Janine, but she was having twins..." Suddenly, Courtney's Mom's eyes widened. "Courtney, are you having twins?"

Courtney slowly shook her head. "No... Well, the Doctor said I looked fine, and didn't mention anything about twins..."

"Have you had your ultrasound yet?" her Mom asked.

"We'll have one at the next visit," Courtney explained, reaching over and grabbing Duncan's hand for reassurance.

"Oh, sweetie. You should've had one by now."

Duncan was sure her Mom was going to say more, but interjected, "The Doctor said she didn't need one until her fifth month."

Even though her Mom slightly narrowed her eyes at him, his Mom chided in, "That's what happened with my youngest son. With Duncan and my oldest, I had one immediately. With my youngest, we went to a new doctor, and she said that there was no need for one immediately unless there was a medical condition."

"Unless something drastic happens, I'll just wait the extra few weeks until my next appointment," Courtney said, shrugging.

Nobody brought up anything else at their water came over. After their orders had been taken, they just sat there in silence. Suddenly, Courtney's Dad began talking to Duncan's parents about their jobs.

Duncan leaned back in chair and grabbed his phone from his pocket. Courtney gently, but hurriedly, patted his lap, motioning at her parents.

'_Put it away_!' she mouthed.

He passively waved his hand towards her. He checked his messages, which included a picture text from Geoff. The picture was one of Isabelle looking at the camera, sad with tears rolling down her cheeks. It read:

_isabelles upset she cant see you tonight!_

Duncan rolled his eyes and showed the message to Courtney, who smiled sadly. "Poor thing."

"I don't think she's upset because she can't see us," Duncan murmured, texting his friend with the response:

_yeah right. give her lots of hugs n kisses 4 us._

"Oh, I realize that," Courtney muttered, peering over and grinning at Duncan's reply back. "Aww. How sweet of you."

"Totally saying you stole my phone to type that."

"He knows I don't type like that. I happen to use proper grammar in my text messages."

"I'll just say you possessed me."

"Or you could just say you love Isabelle."

"Didn't say I don't love her. Can't hate any of Bridgette or Geoff's children."

"Oh, how is their baby doing?" Duncan's Mom asked, jumping into their conversation.

"Who's child?" Courtney's Dad asked.

"Geoff and Bridgette's," Courtney said.

Duncan pulled out his phone and showed his Mom the picture Geoff had just sent him. "That's how she's doing."

Duncan's Dad rolled his eyes, smirking, while his Mom gaped at the phone. "Oh, my goodness! What happened?"

"Oh, she's probably hungry or something," Duncan murmured.

"May we see the photo?" Courtney's Mom asked.

Duncan started to lean over the table to hand her the phone when Courtney snatched the phone from his hands and passed it to her Mom.

"Table etiquette," Courtney hissed.

"Oh, whatever..." He grinned when his Dad's phone started blaring, an old Italian song playing as his ringtone. His Mom wore an amused smile on her face as her husband walked away, sending apologetic glances to the table.

"Nonna?" Duncan asked.

His Mom nodded, a soft smile still on her face. "His Mom recently went on a trip back to Italy," she informed Courtney's parents, talking about her husband's Mom. "She's originally from there, but moved here... hmm... oh, a long time ago. A few weeks ago, she went back to visit some family and check up on a few things."

"Her house..." Duncan started before getting his arm swatted by his Mom.

"Oh, shush," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Duncan's phone started to vibrate, and since he knew Courtney get mad if he snatched his phone away from his phone, he just stared at his wife. Courtney was just staring worriedly at her Mom, who accidentally pressed the "OK" button over the "OPEN MESSAGE" function.

"Oh boy," Duncan murmured, worried about what the message would say.

Suddenly, Courtney's Mom smiled. "What an adorable child," she said, handing the phone to Courtney, who smiled. Duncan peered over and rolled his eyes.

It was another picture of Isabelle, but this time she was beaming at the camera. There was a message underneath that read:

_look at this CUTIE!_

Duncan chuckled, sending back the reply:

_yep definitely a cutie. dunno where she gets that from._

"Oh, you're so mean," Courtney muttered, barely holding in her giggles.

"Aah, precious moments of seeing your children smile..." Courtney's Mom said, smiling in reminiscence.

"Aren't those just the best moments?" Duncan's Mom asked, also smiling. "Seeing your child smile at you, walk around for the first time..."

"Oh, those first baby steps..." Courtney's Mom cooed.

Duncan's Mom quickly nodded. "Oh, yes, those first baby steps... Duncan was a quick runner. He practically ran those first steps."

Despite the roll of his eyes, he looked over at Courtney, who was looking up at him, smiling. They gave each others hand a squeeze. It was nice to see their parents, especially their Mom's, conversing oh-so happily like this.

"But, just remember - babies cry. A lot. All day and all night long."

The married couple rolled their eyes. Her Mom would say something like that.


	3. Big News

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Blargh...short chapter is short chapter...unfortunately. I knew I needed to write this, and so many parts were just re-written because I didn't like what I had written before... I feel almost fine with what I have now. I figured I'd post this, since I had to post it (at least the ending). I hope the next chapter will be better. And thank you for the reviews! Please, please review. And remember - I'm always up for ideas!**

"You're basically halfway through your pregnancy, Court!"

"It's been a long seven weeks."

"But an even longer five months, right?"

Courtney sighed and shrugged, looking over at her best friend. They were having lunch together, and it was a fairly early lunch, since Courtney had her doctor's appointment early in the afternoon. "I wish I had known earlier," she muttered, sitting back in her chair.

"Eh, sometimes I wish I had known earlier, too."

"You were six weeks when you found out you were pregnant."

"And? Time is essential in a pregnancy. Along with good nutrition and support and sleep, but you get the gist..."

"You sound like Duncan."

"How is he doing?"

"Good. A bit stressed from work, but..." Courtney shrugged. "I'm happy if he's happy."

"I bet he's happy 'cause you're happy as well."

"Something like that."

"You don't sound too thrilled about... anything," Bridgette said, frowning.

Courtney let out another sigh, her hands resting on her ever-growing belly. "Mom's been nagging me."

Bridgette rolled her eyes. "About the whole twin-thing?"

"Yes!"

"My Mom kept saying the exact same things," Bridgette explained. "I had to tell her, 'Mom, I'm a small girl, and we tend to show a bit more'."

"But that's the thing," Courtney started. "I was never fat, but I was never, like... skinny. I'm at an average height. Mom keeps telling me I shouldn't be showing this much."

"Just ignore her," Bridgette told her. "Unless you think you're having twins."

Courtney shrugged. "I don't know." She sighed and slowly stood up. "Bathroom break. Again. I'll be right back."

Bridgette nodded and remained silent for a few moments before getting out her phone. She pressed the speed-dial for Geoff's number and listened to his playback ringtone before he picked up.

"_Hey, babe. Everything alright?_"

"Can you send me a picture of when I was five months pregnant?"

"_Uhh, sure... May I ask why you want this kind of picture?_"

"Just to see if Courtney's going nuts or not."

Geoff quietly chuckled. "_Her Mom still nagging her?_"

"Yes, and I think she's convincing herself she's pregnant with twins as well."

"_Do you think she is?_"

"I don't know, Geoff. I don't think so, at least. I just need the picture."

"_Well, lucky for you, I have one on my phone, so I'll just go ahead and send that_..."

"Sweet. Thanks, Geoffie."

"_Not a prob, Bridgie. 'Love you._"

"'Love you, too. I'll talk to you later."

"'_Bye._"

She smiled as she hung up her phone. She soon received her picture and couldn't help but study it for a few minutes.

"What are you looking at?"

Bridgette snapped out of her trance and stared over at her pregnant friend, who had returned to the table and was sitting in her seat. "Just looking at a picture of myself from when I was five months pregnant."

Courtney sighed. "Bridgette, we just had this discussion..."

Bridgette held up her hand. "I know. We're completely different heights and are basically not the same weight. But we're average for our sizes. And, in truth, I don't think you're pregnant with twins."

Courtney just stared at Bridgette. "We'll see at the doctor today," she finally said.

Bridgette gave a half-hearted smile as she nodded. Suddenly, her phone started buzzing and she surprisingly got a text from Duncan.

_im sorry if she keeps going on about twins and such._

"Who's that?" Courtney asked.

"Geoff," Bridgette mumbled as she responded to Duncan's text.

_it's okay :) did she call you?_

"Tell him I say 'hello'," Courtney said.

Bridgette nodded, smiling. "Will do."

_something like that. she wasnt complaing bout u tho. just feels tired i guess._

"Tonight's going to suck," Courtney hastily muttered, crossing her arms.

"You're having dinner with your parents, aren't you?" Bridgette asked, placing her phone on the table.

Courtney nodded. "All Mom is going to talk about is the baby. Oh, we have to do this. Oh, we have to do that..." She let out a long sigh. "Were your parents like this?"

"Nope."

"Geoff's?"

"Nah."

"Duncan's parents are, like, advising us here and there, but my parents are just... They're just pressuring us about everything!"

"You need to talk to your parents, Court," Bridgette quietly said. "You're getting way too upset over this."

"That's what Duncan keeps telling me," Courtney softly said. "I just... I wish I didn't have to say anything to them, you know? I wish they were happier and more supportive and just... I wish they wouldn't nag."

Bridgette nodded, before a smile lit up her face. "I have an idea." When Courtney just stared at her, she continued, "Bring Isabelle with you to dinner."

Courtney blinked a couple of times. "But Isabelle's your daughter."

"Oh, I know that. She doesn't look like you or Duncan. But, bring her to dinner and show your parents how good you two are at taking care of a kid."

Courtney looked perplexed. "We've never taken care of a child before. I mean, Duncan's babysat for his cousin a few times, but neither of us have taken care of a child so young."

"You two watched her a few weeks ago..."

"She was asleep the entire time!"

"Oh, she'll probably fall asleep around dinner. She doesn't get too fussy..."

"That's not what Geoff told Duncan..." Courtney murmured.

Bridgette rolled her eyes. "Just give her lots of attention and make sure she gets fed. And make sure to change her diaper. She can't stand having a dirty diaper..."

"I can't imagine any baby who would..."

Bridgette laughed. "That is true." She then smiled sweetly at her friend. "You know you want to watch my child tonight..."

Courtney crossly stared at Bridgette. "Not really, but if you think it will help get my parents off my back..."

"Will Duncan's parents be there?"

"Oh, no. But we'll be having dinner with them this weekend... No, I don't want to watch your baby then, either!"

* * *

"So we're stuck watching their baby tonight AND this weekend?"

"Unfortunately."

Duncan sighed. "Well... Watching their baby won't be too hard... right?"

"Bridgette said she's been cranky lately."

He groaned, pressing his face into his pillow. "Why..." he groaned.

"Well, if she gets too cranky, we'll be able to get out of dinner tonight," Courtney pointed out from the bathroom.

"Or your Mom will try to interfere," Duncan muttered.

Suddenly, he heard Courtney groan loudly. "_Mom canceled_!" she exclaimed.

"I don't see the problem with that."

"She could have told us earlier!"

"Babe, it's only one. We weren't going to eat dinner until six-thirty."

Courtney suddenly walked into their room and plopped down next to him. "She wants to have another family dinner this weekend."

"Not going to happen," Duncan firmly said.

"She said she's going to call your Mom tonight," Courtney said, looking down at her phone.

Duncan groaned. He suddenly sat up and said, "I'm going to call Ma and tell her not to pick up any of your Mom's calls."

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Oh, let her do it, and maybe we can convince them to back off for a while," she muttered. She glanced at the clock on her phone and said, "It's already one..."

"I just said that..."

"Oh. Well, we should head out now."

"I've been waiting on you, darling."

"Oh, hush."

* * *

"Is our baby okay?"

Duncan and Courtney were in the examination room, anxiously looking between the ultrasound screen and the Doctor, who seemed to be taking her sweet time looking at their baby. Courtney was laying on the table, her hand propped up and holding onto Duncan's hand. He was sitting down in a chair, but was essentially sitting right next to his wife.

The Doctor nodded before looking over and smiling at the couple. "Your baby is perfectly healthy."

Courtney and Duncan couldn't help but smile. It was one thing to see their child, but to find out that it was healthy... the feeling was beyond words for them. Yes, they were relieved that their baby was healthy, but they were even more relieved to learn she wasn't carrying twins.

"There's the head," the Doctor said, pointing to the screen. "There's it's spine. You can see the tiny dots that make up each of the vertabrae. And then there are it's hands, arms, legs, and feet..."

"When should the baby start kicking?" Courtney suddenly asked.

"Any day now, to be honest," the Doctor said. "Some women feel it as early as eighteen weeks, and others later. If you don't feel anything by the next visit, please do tell me."

Courtney nodded and looked over at Duncan, who was staring at the screen. His face was thoughtful, inquisitive, curious, and she could even see that he was scared a bit. Goodness knows how terrified she was, but knowing her and Duncan, neither would admit their fear until the last minute. "Do you want to know the gender?" she softly asked, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Hmm..." he murmured, staring at the screen for a few more seconds before turning to her and asking, "Do you want to know?"

She shrugged. "It'd probably be good to find out."

He nodded before looking at the Doctor. "Well, Doc, is our baby a boy or a girl? Or both?"

Courtney glared at him and tightly squeezed his hand, earning a "Hey!" from her husband.

The Doctor laughed before turning to the screen and pointing at their baby's private region. "As you can tell, there's virtually nothing there, with the exception of three lines, so... Congratulations! You're having a girl!"


	4. Fake or Real?

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

"So Duncan was quite the kicker, compared to his brothers... I mean, I'm convinced they all moved a lot because they were boys, but Duncan stood out among then..."

Courtney could barely pay attention while Duncan's Mom was talking. She smiled and would softly laugh when she heard other people laughing, but barely contributed anything to the conversation. Their parents were the only ones making any kind of conversation.

Duncan was doing his best to keep up with the conversation, and while he was doing a better job at it than Courtney was, his mind was still pre-occupied.

Both of their minds were.

They were both fearing the impending birth of their child.

Courtney had been feeling mild contractions all morning, and was still feeling them during the lunch with their parents. During the entire morning, both her and her husband had been doing extensive research, looking up the difference between fake labor and real labor. She tried everything that would get rid of fake contractions - drinking lots of water, walking around, laying or sitting in different positions... Nothing had worked. The contractions weren't painful, but were uncomfortable. At first, she wasn't bothered by them, and ignored them until she realized that they weren't going away. Each contraction had been between thirty and forty-five seconds long, and were around five to six minutes apart.

After their initial freak-out, both had decided to not tell their parents. Why worry their parents over something that could just a bit of weird fake labor? Courtney decided she would call her Doctor after the meal with their parents.

Both were hoping the lunch would distract them, but both had this weird feeling inside of them. Both couldn't help but think about how unprepared they were for this child. The nursery was barely set up; they had the crib and dresser set up and put in their respective places, but they hadn't bought a rocking chair. They hadn't even had a baby shower yet. They also couldn't help but think about how Courtney was only 34 weeks along. She was at least six weeks early.

Suddenly, Courtney felt a twinge go through her lower stomach. That was the strongest "contraction" she had felt, and it reminded her of the horrible cramps she had from time to time. The pain seemed to last a bit longer than other spurts of pain she previously had, but thankfully she was able to keep a straight face. After the pain had submerged, she said to her family, "Excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom."

Duncan, who had noticed her face contort into a grimace for a few seconds a minute prior, helped her stand up. "You alright?" he whispered in her ear.

"I need to pee," she murmured. She then smiled at him and mouthed, '_We need to go to the hospital_.'

'_Right now_?' he mouthed, his eyes widening.

She shook her head and mouthed '_Soon_' before turning around and walking towards the restroom.

"Is everything alright?" Courtney's Mom asked, raising an eyebrow at Duncan, who remained in his spot after his wife had walked off.

"Yeah..." Duncan murmured, snapping out of his daze before turning around and sitting back down. "Just making sure she doesn't fall or anything..."

"So, are you two excited?" his Mom happily asked, smiling. "Your child is going to be born soon!"

He gave his Mom a half-smile. If only their parents knew what was going through their minds. He told his Mom, "Yeah, we're excited..."

"How has Courtney been holding up?" Courtney's Mom softly asked. "I hope she's been okay since... you know..."

Duncan raised an eyebrow at his wife's Mom. "Since what?"

"Since she got laid off," her Mom whispered.

Duncan's parents gasped, while Duncan himself just stared at Courtney's Mom like she was dumb. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes and start laughing, he simply told her, "She didn't get laid off."

"Well, I think she quit..."

"She didn't do that, either... She's just on maternity leave."

"She made it sound like she either quit or got fired," her Mom simply said. "She did say, '_I'm so glad I finally left_...'"

Duncan smirked. "She's been having mild backaches for the past few weeks. Sitting in a chair got really uncomfortable after a while."

"I was just remembering something..." Duncan's Mom said, causing Duncan to actually roll his eyes. His Mom often started her long, or very important, stories with this, and he was surely hearing a lot of that lately. "Duncan was born... what, six weeks early?"

"Yeah, at 34 weeks," his Dad said, nodding.

"Hmm..." Courtney's Mom muttered, looking between his parents.

"Courtney was also born at 34 weeks," her Dad softly said.

Suddenly, all eyes were on Duncan. He, on the other hand, was resting his head on his hand, which was propped up on the table. He looked rather bored as he replied with the same, bored, voice, "You think Courtney's in labor."

"Way to sound enthusiastic," his Dad muttered.

"Courtney's fine," Duncan insisted, though his mind couldn't help but freak out. It was as if her suddenly being in labor was meant to be. He then told both sets of parents, "If something were wrong, we would have told you."

"What are you all talking about?" Courtney muttered as she slowly sat down.

"They think you're in labor," Duncan muttered.

"We think that because yourself and Duncan were both born at 34 weeks, that there's a chance you could also be due this week," her Mom explained, slightly irritated by Duncan.

Courtney blinked a few times, slowly rubbing her stomach. She couldn't ask their Mom's what it felt like during the beginning of labor; they would definitely then know something was up. Instead, she told them, "Besides the occasional backache and me being tired all the time, I think I'm fine. Isn't labor a lengthy process, anyway?"

"For a first child, usually," Duncan's Mom explained. "I was in labor with Dylan for..."

"Seventy-two hours," his Dad finished, letting out a sigh.

"I was in labor for fifty hours," Courtney's Mom said.

Duncan and Courtney instantly paled. Labor lasted that long? Neither of them wanted to be in the hospital during the labor stage for over a few hours! Both finally understood why websites suggested them to bring computers, books, movies, and other entertaining things.

"That's a, uhh... long time to be in labor..." Duncan murmured.

"I'm suddenly really tired," Courtney blurted out, thankfully yawning at that moment.

"Oh, poor thing," Courtney's Mom murmured, reaching over next to her and rubbing her daughter's arm. Courtney smiled at her Mom, patting the older woman's hand lightly. Her Mom continued smiling at her and softly said, "You call me if you need anything, okay?"

Courtney nodded, still smiling. "Of course I will."

"Well, you two behave yourselves," Duncan's Mom said, standing up. She ruffled her son's hair before saying, "We'll be at Dylan's place."

Duncan and Courtney slowly stood up as they said a final good-bye to their parents. They slowly walked behind them as they all excited the restaurant.

"I called our Doctor and told her we're on the way," Courtney whispered into Duncan's ear.

He smiled, kissing her temple. "Smart woman."

She smirked. "And that's exactly why you married me."

"Pretty much." He paused before asking, "What if we can't leave the hospital?"

"We'll call Geoff and Bridge," she told him as they got into her car. "They have one of our spare keys. They'll just go in there and get our stuff..."

"We haven't finished packing the bag..." Duncan murmured.

Courtney sighed before shrugging. She was going to say something when a sharp pain her her. She let out a small hiss as she softly rubbed her stomach.

"Are they getting worse?" Duncan quietly asked. He turned around and began to park out of his spot when he slammed on his breaks.

"Can you refrain from getting into an accident!" Courtney exclaimed. One hand was placed on her stomach, and the other was gripping onto the door.

"Some people just don't know how to drive!" Duncan said as he sped off.

"Can you not yell?" Courtney snapped before adding, "And slow down!"

"Do you not want to get to the hospital quickly?" Duncan muttered.

"Yes," she irritably said. "But I want to get there in one piece. I want you to get there in one piece. I don't want my car destroyed in any kind of way."

He let out a long breath before softly telling her, "I'm sorry. I'm just... Courtney, we may be having a baby today."

"Right now is the wrong time to be freaking out. Do you want me to drive?"

"Uh, no."

"_Then slow down_! Or I'll force you to let me drive!"

* * *

"You are definitely in labor, Mrs. Richardson."

Courtney groaned. She placed her hands over her face and muttered, "This isn't good..."

"Thankfully," the nurse started. "Babies born after 34 weeks usually do not have any type of serious problems. It's babies before then we have to watch out for more."

"So it's okay that she's in labor now?" Duncan asked as he reached over and grabbed his wife's hand.

"For the most part, yes," the nurse stated.

"What do you mean?" Courtney asked.

"First, we need to check the baby's lungs. If they're not quite developed, we'll have to prolong the labor so we can give you a shot of corticosteroids just to help jump-start your baby's lungs a bit more."

"Will our baby have to go to the NICU?" Courtney softly asked.

"That, again, depends on your baby's lungs development," the nurse stated. "Many babies born at 34 weeks are also affected by jaundice, so some have to go to the NICU to get rid of that as well. It's not a serious condition, though."

Courtney nodded, but couldn't say anything. She let out a sigh as she felt her eyes burn with tears. She felt some of the tears fall, and quickly wiped them away.

"Everything will be okay," the nurse re-assured Courtney, patting her leg and smiling. "You're in good hands."

"How far along is she again?" Duncan suddenly asked.

"Five centimeters," the nurse explained. "And your contractions are consistent, but slowly becoming stronger and stronger. I'll go get your doctor so she can explain everything else to you."

"Duncan, we are screwed," Courtney said immediately after the nurse left. She slowly sat up before continuing, "I am six weeks early. Six weeks! And I'm five centimeters along! We shouldn't have gone out to lunch, maybe we could have prolonged the labor then..."

"Hey," Duncan softly said, turning so he could face her. "It's alright. Remember what our parents said? We were both born at 34 weeks. That's a crazy coincidence, but whatever. Look how we turned out. We turned out just fine."

Courtney stared at Duncan for a few moments before muttering, "Our child is screwed with parents like us..."

He chuckled before saying, "Well, if it helps, I'm sure our child won't be dumb. You're Miss Valedictorian, and I'm Mister Salutatorian..."

"We're not ready for a child, Duncan! And this child probably isn't prepared for us!"

He sighed, not trying to convince her anymore. "Well, we gotta call Bridge and Geoff... and our parents... and our friends..."

By that point, Courtney was also calling Bridgette. "Bridgette, I'm in labor," she immediately said once her friend had picked up.

"_WHAT_!" Bridgette exclaimed.

"Don't yell at me!" Courtney snapped.

"_You know I'm not yelling at you_," Bridgette calmly explained. "_But... How?_"

"I don't know!" Courtney said, once again snapping. She sighed before saying, "I'm sorry, Bridge."

"_No need to apologize, Girl._"

"I need you to do Duncan and I a favor, though."

"_Sure_."

"Will you go by our apartment and grab our hospital bag? And, uhh... Could you put some clothes into it? For both Duncan and myself?"

"_I'll get your clothes and Geoff can get Duncan's. Is there stuff for the baby in there_?"

"That's the only thing we packed. Oh! And will you grab my laptop? We've already got our camera... Our charger may be in the bag, I'm not sure..."

"_We'll grab whatever we can_," Bridgette said, laughing.

"Tell her to feed Katie, too," Duncan murmured.

"Oh, my God, our dog!" Courtney exclaimed at Duncan's words.

"_Is she okay_?" Bridgette immediately asked.

"Will you take care of her?" Courtney quickly asked.

"_Uhh... I mean, Isabelle's only nine months old, I don't know how she'd handle a dog..._" Bridgette muttered.

"Well, can either you or Geoff stop by the apartment each day we're not there?" Courtney asked. "We just need someone to feed her, maybe take her for a small walk..."

"_Oh, that's no problem_," Bridgette said before adding, "_But what if she has to... you know, go to the bathroom_?"

"There should be some puppy pads laying around," Courtney said.

"In the hall closet," Duncan informed her.

"In the hallway closet," Courtney told her best friend.

"_Gotcha. We'll stop by your place, mingle with your dog, and we'll be over... We'll be over soon. Just don't have the baby before we get there_!"

"I'll try," Courtney said, giggling as she hung up the phone. She looked at Duncan and said, "We need to call our parents now."

"I'll call them," Duncan said.

Courtney nodded and placed a hand on her stomach. She gently rubbed it as she said, "Don't pull any funny moves, baby. You gotta wait until the folks and Bridgette and Geoff get here..."

Duncan chuckled as he called Courtney's Mom. He rolled his eyes at the lengthy amount rings. Finally, she picked up and asked, "_Hello_?"

"Hey, Mrs. Richardson," he smoothly said, causing Courtney to roll her eyes.

"_Hello, Duncan. Is there anything you need_?"

"Well..." he started out, lengthening the word before telling his Mother-in-law, "Your daughter is in labor."

There was silence on the other end of the line before she exclaimed, "_WHAT_?"

"Yep," Duncan said, smirking. "She's been in labor all day now."

"_A-and you couldn't tell us during lunch_?"

"Eh, we thought it was fake," Duncan said.

"_Well... We'll be there shortly!_"

And with that, the phone call ended. Duncan couldn't help but rolling his eyes once more. Her Mom was always a little too curt for him. "Well, she sounded pleased."

"Mildly pissed is a better way of putting it," Courtney murmured. "Now call your Momma."

Duncan twirled his phone in his hands for a few seconds before smirking. Instead of dialing either of his parents numbers, he dialed Dylan's number. He let the phone ring and after his brother answered, he asked, "Hey, are Ma and Pa there yet?"

"_Yep_," said his brother. "_Wanna talk to them_?"

"Oh, no, but will you tell them something for me?"

"_Sure_..."

"Courtney's in labor."

He couldn't help the laughter escape him as he heard his Ma start freaking out. He continued laughing and even put the call on speakerphone as he heard his Mom start screaming. Even Courtney couldn't help her giggles as she listened to the phone call.

"_Dude, why couldn't you call them yourself_!" his brother snapped.

"The reaction would have been the same," Duncan pointed out. "When are they getting here?"

"_Uhh... soon, dude. Lemme call you back_."

"Way to make everyone you call frazzled, Duncan," Courtney said, smiling.

Duncan shrugged, everything about him reading coy and innocent. "They'll all barge in here and expect you to be writhing around in pain and screaming your heart out..."

"I surely hope that doesn't happen," Courtney murmured. "Were you reading horrifying birthing stories or something?"

"Nah, just thought of it."

"Of course you did."

**A/N: Da-daaa! And the story commences! I know I've jumped around, due to a bit of a block... Would you all like me to add some more chapters of the time during Courtney's pregnancy? If so, what would you like in there? If I can't think of anything soon, I'll probably jump back later in the story, haha. Thank you all for the reviews! I hope you all continue to enjoy this! **


	5. Almost There

_Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Long and late chapter is long and late... Sorry! It took me forever to write this, hah. Same with the other chapter of TTOOL. I'm also writing a one-shot that took place within TFE, which that won't be up for a while since I'm concentrating more on my two current stories. I hope you all enjoy this! And please review!**

"Oh, sweetie!"

Courtney feebly smiled as her parents ran into the room. They each presented her with hugs and kisses, both expressing their happiness and concerns. She was entirely grateful to see them. It had been about an hour since Duncan had called them, and the contractions were slowly getting closer together and more intense.

"Where's Duncan at?" her Mom asked, looking around the room.

"Outside talking to his parents," Courtney explained.

"He wasn't out there when we got here..." her Dad said, frowning lightly.

Courtney pursed her lips before shrugging. "Maybe he's getting something to eat. I'm not sure. His parents arrived a few minutes ago, though, so he's probably talking to them."

"How are you feeling?" her Mom immediately asked, running a hand through her daughter's hair.

"Fine," Courtney murmured. She was greatly enjoying her Mom's gentle touch; the touch was a great distraction from the pain erupting inside of her. "My contractions are about four and a half minutes to five minutes apart, each about... uhh, somewhere between thirty and forty-five seconds..."

Both her parents smiled down at her, and she couldn't help but smile back up at them. They stayed like that for a few moments before quickly turning their heads towards the door as it shot open.

Duncan stood in the doorway, his hand still holding the door open. He was clearly about to say something else, for he was shocked to see her parents there. "Hey," he finally said.

"Oh, sweetie, learn some proper greetings," his Mom murmured as she stepped beside him. She smiled at her daughter-in-law's parents and said, "Funny how we just mentioned this earlier, huh?"

"You're quite the conversation starter, you know," Duncan muttered, patting his Mom's back as he walked past both sets of parents and over to his wife.

Courtney stared at him in confusion. Just a few minutes before, he wasn't wearing his glasses, and suddenly he was? It wasn't that he looked bad in them - it actually made him look hotter - but she was still confused nonetheless. "Why are you wearing your glasses?" she softly asked.

"My contacts were bothering me," he simply said. "I actually had Ma and Pa bring my glasses. I left a pair with them a while back and thankfully they had them with them..."

"I hope Bridgette brings mine," she muttered. "I hope my contacts don't start bothering me too much..."

"Eh, you can just wear my glasses," he said, shrugging.

"Thanks, but no thanks," she said, smiling. "Your prescription is a lot higher than mine. Wearing your glasses would give me a headache... well, a bigger one, seeing as I'll probably have one later..."

He pursed his lips and frowned softly as he felt her hand squeeze his. He saw her struggling with keeping a straight face during this contraction. He knew she didn't want to cause a bigger commotion than she already was. "You wanna go for a walk after this?" he softly asked.

"Why?" she murmured. She grimaced and shut her eyes, hoping the contraction would end quicker.

"I'm sure you want the baby out quicker," he explained. "Walking around helps, so I've heard..."

She groaned as she slowly sat up. She let out a sigh as his Mom and her parents were immediately on her case.

"Why don't you lay back down?" her Dad asked.

"Where are you going?" his Mom asked.

"Sweetie, what's going on?" her Mom asked, though she sounded more frantic than the other two adults.

"Duncan and I are going for a walk," Courtney explained. "We'll be on this floor. Maybe you all can mingle...?" She suddenly turned towards her husband and asked, "Where's your Dad?"

"At ou-uh...doing work stuff."

Courtney raised an eyebrow before shrugging. She didn't think too much of Duncan switching his words around. "Okay. Well, let's go..."

"Do you need some help?" all three parents immediately asked.

Courtney looked at Duncan and smiled. Duncan chuckled as he slowly helped her off the bed. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "This is going to be a long process..."

She nodded in agreement as they slowly stepped out of the room. "You think our parents will follow us?" she softly asked. She wrapped an arm around his torso and laid her head against his arm.

"I hope not, but knowing them, they might... Or they'll sit there and talk and talk, and talk..."

"Courtney! Duncan!"

The married couple looked ahead and saw Bridgette and Geoff walking towards them. Well, Bridgette was running, and Geoff was walking behind her, carrying their daughter, Isabelle.

Bridgette instantly wrapped her arms around Courtney, embracing her best friend in a hug. "I'm sorry it took us such a long to get here," she said.

"It's okay, the baby isn't born yet," Courtney said, smiling. She tried her best to return the hug, and was met with barely wrapping her arms around her friend.

Bridgette laughed. "I hope you don't mind that we brought Isabelle," she said, pulling back slightly.

Courtney shook her head. "Not at all. I love seeing her."

"Dude, what's up?" Duncan asked, walking over to Geoff as their wives chatted.

"Nothing, man," Geoff said, bumping fists with Duncan. He adjusted Isabelle's position and said, "My parents are coming down tonight, so we're watching Isabelle until then."

"No prob, man," Duncan said, shrugging. "She's your kid, after all."

"Are you excited?" Geoff softly asked.

Duncan once again shrugged as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "I guess," he muttered. "I'm nervous, y'know?"

"She is pretty early..." Geoff muttered, nodding.

"Well, yeah, but the Doctor said it's cool," Duncan said. "I mean... We're gonna be parents."

Geoff nodded. "That's life for ya."

Duncan rolled his eyes, smirking. "Yeah, yeah." He sighed before quietly admitting, "I don't think we're ready, man."

Geoff softly smiled and patted his friend's arm. "You'll be fine, man. You and Courtney have got it."

"I sure hope so," Duncan muttered.

"Where are your folks at?" Geoff asked.

"Dad's at our place, and Ma's... somewhere," Duncan said, shrugging. "Court and I just walked out of the room a few minutes ago. Her parents and my Ma were in there when we left."

"Why's your Dad-?" Geoff began to ask, but was cut off when Duncan made stopping gestures towards him.

Duncan motioned for Geoff to lean forward, and once Geoff did, he said, "I let it slip that we weren't done with the nursery, so Ma sent Dad to go finish it."

"That's sweet of him," Geoff said.

"Don't say anything to Courtney about it, though," Duncan said. "She was freaking out about it all morning. I mean, sure, we just need to finish setting up the dresser and crib, but other than that... Where'd they go?"

Geoff turned and chuckled. Courtney and Bridgette were just standing a few feet behind them, but suddenly they were gone. "They're probably just talking," he re-assured his friend, who wearily stared at the spot where the two women just stood. "You know how women are."

"Yeah..." Duncan murmured before turning to his friend. "Wait, what?"

"You know how women get," Geoff said before explaining, "They're probably just talking about children and stuff. Bridge does have the upper hand in this situation, seeing as she already gave birth to Isabelle here..."

Duncan nodded. "She's being quiet today," he observed, smiling at the infant who was staring curiously at him.

"Sweetie, you remember Duncan!" Geoff happily said, peering down at his daughter. He chuckled before adding, "Poor thing. What did Bridge call it...? Whatever. She's at that point where she's freaking out about leaving home. She's probably wondering where Bridge is, too."

"How long has she been like this?" Duncan asked, remembering moments where Geoff and or Bridgette would take their daughter places and she would love it.

"Oh, about a week," Geoff said, shrugging. "It's normal, apparently. That, and separation anxiety. She flips if she's not around Bridge or I."

"Something else to look forward to..."

Geoff chuckled, patting his friend's back. "You'll love it, man. Let's go find the girls, shall we?"

"Well, I'm right here," Bridgette said, suddenly appearing in front of them. She smiled at her daughter, who started cooing loudly at her Mom.

"Where's Court?" Duncan softly asked, watching Geoff hand Isabelle over to Bridgette. He always marveled at how natural they were with their daughter - it was as if they were meant to be parents. He could only hope the same for Courtney and him.

"In the room with her parents," Bridgette explained, smiling at her daughter. She looked at Duncan and said, "Well, I know she's talking to her Mom, anyway. I'd leave them alone for a while."

* * *

"It's so strange," Courtney murmured, staring at her hands, which were resting on top of her stomach.

"What is?" her Mom softly asked, looking at her daughter.

"This whole pregnancy," Courtney muttered, looking at her Mom. Her eyes were wide and filled with question. "I mean... I found out I was pregnant when I was three months along. I... I kind of had a few spouts of nausea, but every instance was so far apart that I didn't think it meant I was pregnant. Same with me being tired in the first semester; sure, I was tired, but I thought that was because of the wedding, not because I was going to give birth so many months later..."

"Were you and Duncan trying to have children?" her Mom softly questioned. She reached over and grabbed her daughter's hand and gave it a light squeeze.

Courtney hesitantly shook her head before shrugging. "Not really," she admitted. "Around the time I got pregnant, we briefly discussed having children, and agreed that we'd like children someday..." She softly laughed and muttered, "I didn't realize 'someday' would be so soon..." She sighed and looked at her Mom. "Was your labor painful?"

Her Mom pursed her lips before responding, "Kind of. I ended up getting an epidural because, as I said then, I wasn't too fond of the pain. Do you plan on getting an epidural?"

Courtney shook her head and said, "No."

Her Mom smiled at her daughter. She brought her hand up to her daughter's forearm and started gently rubbing it. "I'm so proud of you, sweetie." She sighed before continuing, "I know your Father and I don't tell you that enough, but we're both so incredibly proud of you."

Courtney genuinely smiled at her Mom. "Thank you."

"I remember when you were little..." Her Mom softly laughed, wiping at the tears that began to form in her eyes. "You used to always tell me, 'I'll be the first Princess in Office!'"

Courtney giggled, a blush instantly spreading across her cheeks. "Really?" she asked.

Her Mom nodded. "You were constantly saying you would be either President or a lawyer, but at the same time, you were convinced you were to be a Princess. Do you remember wearing your Princess outfit all over the house?"

"Vaguely," Courtney murmured.

"Well, I'll have to show you the pictures," her Mom said, smiling. "We may also have a few videos... Speaking of videos, do you remember the one with you describing your perfect family?"

Courtney's eyebrows furrowed. Her face clearly read confused. "I... I wanted a family?" For the longest time, all she could remember was focusing on her career, and didn't think about having children or a significant other.

Her Mom softly laughed and nodded. "You sure did."

"What exactly did I say?"

Her Mom once again laughed before saying, "I'll let you watch the video soon. I need to find the tape first." She smiled and said, "You were so cute..." She sighed and said, "I can't believe it. My baby's having her own baby."

Courtney smiled, tears brimming her eyes. "I love you, Mom," she softly said.

Her Mom smiled, tears also forming in her eyes. She leaned forward and hugged her daughter before quietly saying, "I love you, too, sweetie."

* * *

Duncan helplessly stared at his wife as she laid on the bed. Her squeezing his hand didn't bother him; his pain tolerance was quite high. Her body was curled up and her eyes were tightly shut. Her whole stature read agony. Courtney had been going through intense contractions for almost an hour now, and they were only getting worse and worse. She hadn't been able to talk through these contractions, and their conversations were often cut short due to the pain suddenly emerging.

Once her grip lessened, he leaned close to her and softly asked, "Is there anything I can get you?"

She shook her head. He couldn't help but frown even more at the tears that escaped her eyes. She told him, "I...I just want t-this baby out..."

He nodded and leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "Do you need a massage or anything?"

She shook her head, letting out a shaky shudder before saying, "J-just holding my hand is good enough..."

He softly smiled, giving her hand a soft squeeze. He leaned forward and rested his other hand on top of hers, for he could notice a new contraction had begun. Her body curled up once more, and her face turned into a grimace. He scooted the chair closer to her bed so he could lean forward even more. "Just keep breathing," he softly told her. Even though she snapped at him earlier for touching her face, he reached forward and brushed the stray strands of hair away from her face.

"I want that damn doctor in here right now," Courtney harshly muttered once that contraction ended.

"You feel like pushing yet?" Duncan asked, slowly standing up.

"I've been feeling like pushing for the past twenty minutes," she muttered, looking up at him. "Where are you going?"

"To get the - never mind..." He was about to say "to get the doctor", but their doctor had decided to walk in during his statement. He sat down as their Doctor walked over to them.

"How are you feeling?" their Doctor asked, softly smiling down at Courtney.

"Not any better," Courtney murmured, turning her head to look at the Doctor.

"Well, let's check to see how far along you are," the Doctor said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you're almost there. Now, if you could turn onto your back..."

Despite Courtney's glare, Duncan helped her slowly roll onto her back. Courtney preferred to lay on her side, due to her not wanting anymore pressure added onto her back. She only laid on her back when the Doctor had to check her out. She didn't mind moving for the Doctor, but preferred to move on her own, and not with Duncan's assistance.

"You are almost nine centimeters along," the Doctor said, smiling. "Any moment now you'll be reaching ten, which means we can start the delivery. We'll go ahead and start preparing for it, and get a room set up for you. Now would be a good time to inform your family and friends of what's going on."

"Okay," Courtney muttered, her arms laying limp at her side. Her hand lay limp in Duncan's grasp, even when he gave her hand a squeeze.

"What's wrong?" Duncan whispered, leaning close to her.

"I'm... I'm scared," she whispered, looking at Duncan with wide, scared eyes.

He instantly wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her arms tightly wrap around him and her hands grip his shirt. They stayed in that embrace for at least one minute, for he could tell she was going through another contraction. He whispered sweet nothing's into her ear as well as gave her forehead and cheeks a few soft kisses.

After her contraction ended, he told her, "I can't believe how great of a job you're doing."

"Barely," she murmured, her voice tearful.

He leaned back slightly and cupped her face in his hands. "If I were in your place, I would have gotten an epidural A.S.A.P.," he said, smiling at her. "You said your Mom got one, I know my Mom got one with all three of us, Michelle was screaming for one... I don't know anyone else who opted out of any medicine."

"Bridge did," Courtney muttered, slowly rubbing her stomach.

"Well, her and her husband are basically hippies, so of course she did," he said.

She smirked, rolling her eyes. "We need to tell everyone," she softly said.

He nodded, running a hand through her hair. He then quietly asked, "Are you sure you want me to go?" He had promised to stay by her side the entire time.

She nodded, lightly patting his arm. "Tell them to make any final words snappy."

Duncan chuckled and gave her a small kiss before walking out of the room. He walked down the hallway and into the waiting area, where he found their friends and family waiting there. His Mom, who was standing up, immediately walked over to her son.

"How is she?" his Mom softly asked.

He shrugged. "In pain, but... She's gonna give birth in a few minutes, most likely."

His Mom gasped and pulled her son into a hug. He softly patted her back as she muttered, "I can't believe it... I'm gonna be a Grandma..."

"Yep, you're gonna be a Nonna," he muttered, smirking when she pulled back and rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't go that far," she said. Despite the slightly stern face she said, her eyes read that she was just joking around.

He rolled his eyes and looked at everyone else. There weren't too many people there - their family consisted of both sets of parents, and their friends were just Bridgette, Geoff, and Michelle. He was about to open his mouth and tell everyone the news when his Mom exclaimed, "There's gonna be a baby soon!" At that point, everyone surrounded him and began congratulating him. He couldn't help but smile at them, but continued to feel jittery. The whole feeling of becoming a parent and fully taking care of a child was now hitting him, and it was hitting him quick.

"Can we visit Courtney?" her Mom asked.

Duncan nodded. "Yeah, but everyone has to make it quick." He stood there as mostly everyone made their way towards her room. He smiled at Michelle, who was walking over to him. "Hey," he softly said.

Michelle smiled at him. "Hey yourself," she said. "How are you holding up? Haven't seen you in a few hours..."

"Well, Courtney has been in labor..." He smirked, rolling his eyes. "How's your little one?"

"Good," she said, her grin widening.

"Who's watching him?"

"My parents." She suddenly looked down and started giggling.

"What's so funny?" he slowly asked, a smile slowly forming on his face.

"I just thought of something Brian might say right now," she softly said.

He chuckled, though a pain struck him. He could never forget his cousin who had passed well over a year prior, but he hadn't really thought about him too much these past few months. "What would he say?"

She looked up at him and said, "Something along the lines of 'Damn, she's finally having her baby', or 'I still can't believe you're copying all of your best friends and having a baby of your own'..."

Duncan laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, that does sound like him," he said, grinning. He then leaned forward and hugged his friend.

Michelle hugged him in return and whispered, "How are you feeling?"

"Scared shitless," he murmured.

She softly laughed. "You'll be fine."

"I sure hope so."

After hugging for a few more seconds, the two let go. Duncan looked over as Geoff and Bridgette walked over to them. "How is she?" he asked.

"She's a real trooper, man," Geoff said.

"She kept talking despite the pain," Bridgette said, smiling softly.

Duncan tried to smile, but it came out more pained than anything. He saw how hard it was for her to do anything while she was in labor and figured she was trying to look like she wasn't in so much pain in front of everyone.

"Have you two thought of a name?" Geoff asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Duncan nodded. "We thought of one a few hours ago."

"And you didn't tell us?" Geoff asked, shocked.

Duncan chuckled. "Dude, we weren't going to tell anyone until the baby's born."

"Fair enough," Bridgette said, smiling.

Duncan quickly turned around after feeling a tap on his shoulders. He saw both sets of parents behind him. They were all smiling at him, though his Mom was the giddiest of them all.

"I think it's time," Courtney's Mom softly said.

What shocked him was that she leaned forward and gave him a hug. Her Mom, the lady who was clearly never too fond of him, actually gave him a hug. He returned the hug, not saying a single word. Courtney's Dad gave his hand a firm shake. Duncan's parents each gave him a hug before he walked down the hallway and back into his wife's room.

"Never, ever, ever, leave me again," Courtney said. Her eyes were glassy with tears, and her cheeks were tear-stained. Her voice was filled with just a tiny bit of anger, but mostly hurt and sadness.

"I'm sorry," he said, walking over to her bed and sat down in the chair next to it. "Everyone kept talking..."

"Liar," she murmured, smiling softly.

He chuckled, running a hand through her hair. "Me and Michelle caught up a little bit. What did everyone else say to you?"

"Mom and Dad were really freaking out," she explained, causing her husband to chuckle once more. "Bridge and Geoff were, of course, just ecstatic. Your Mom kept talking, and your Dad just kinda stood there."

"Ma babbles when she gets too excited or too freaked out," Duncan said, laughing. "Dad likes to listen to what she says. Sometimes she talks and reveals stuff that she hadn't told him yet. That's how he found out she was pregnant with... well, at least me, anyway..."

"Are you ready for the baby?" Courtney softly asked. She reached over and softly grabbed his hand.

"I guess." Duncan shrugged. "Are you?"

Courtney shrugged before responding, "Not really, but... The Doctor said once she gets back, I'll be moving to the delivery room."

He slowly nodded. "We can do it, Court."

"I know."


	6. Hello Baby

_Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama or anything else copyrighted._

Courtney groaned, stirring slightly as she woke up. As she stretched her arms and legs, she groaned from the pain that the simple action had caused. She let out a sigh, turning onto her back and re-situating herself on her large pillows. She smiled softly as her husband stirred beside her. They were fortunate enough to have a large bed in the recovery room, so that both were able to continue sleeping beside one another. She gingerly ran her hands across his head, watching him sleep. She felt tired from all that she went through the previous day, but felt incredibly rejuvenated from the amount of sleep she got. She noticed it was a little past 12:30PM, and realized by then she slept for over nine hours, which is the most amount of sleep she had gotten in months. She had given birth a little before 1AM, but had to stay up for a couple of hours, due to simple tests. She finally went to sleep a little after 3AM.

As she laid there, with Duncan's arm wrapped around her in a secure embrace, she couldn't help but think about the past twenty-four hours. Never had she imagined she would be giving birth that day. What she thought were fake contractions turned into her being in labor, and her giving birth to hers and Duncan's daughter. Never had she imagined giving birth in general. Despite what her Mom said the previous day about her once wanting a family, those thoughts could never be conjured in her mind. Her life, for the longest time, was planned - be an "A+" student in school, go to a prestigious college to become a lawyer, and soon afterward, become a successful lawyer. Never had she imagined someone like Duncan waltzing into her life and sweeping her off her feet into the life she now had. True, she went to a well-respected college and graduated with the credentials to become a lawyer, but she was taking things slowly, much to her parents pleasure and displeasure.

Conceiving, giving birth to, and taking care of a child would be the hardest things either would have to do. It was easy to say, and it's something most people say in their lifetimes, but Courtney didn't grasp it until she was actually in labor. It fully hit her when she pushed that final push, the one that brought her daughter from inside of her into the real world. She couldn't help but cry when her daughter was placed on her chest. As bloody as her daughter was, Courtney thought she was beautiful and perfect in her eyes. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of testing their daughter, the Doctor told them it was in their daughter's best interest if she were to stay in the NICU, with a length-of-stay ranging from 12 to 24 hours, or even longer if something were to arise.

The idea of her daughter being in the NICU sent her into a mild state of hysterics. Her state of mind almost sent her over the edge and into a panic attack, but the nurses and Duncan re-assured her it was for the best. The Doctor even admitted nothing was seriously wrong with their daughter, but that the baby's breathing concerned her just slightly. Even though Courtney realized her daughter was slightly premature, she still expected to hold her baby after she was born and cleaned off. She expected her and Duncan to smile at their daughter and talk about how tiny and precious she was.

Well...

They kind of did that when her bloody-self was placed on Courtney's chest, but that was more of an emotional moment for both. Both tried smiling, but were extremely emotional. Duncan kept his head rested on top of Courtney's, silence overtaking him as he stared down at his daughter in pure amazement. Courtney's tears filled her face, her sobs escaping her mouth. It wasn't until later that the two had really talked about their daughter, describing her features and size and such.

"You awake...?"

Courtney slowly turned her head to her husband and gave him a tiny smile. "Good afternoon," she softly said.

"Huh?" he murmured. "What time is it?"

"After twelve-thirty," she said.

"Damn..." he muttered. "I really slept in..."

"I just woke up a few minutes ago myself," she quietly said.

"Has a nurse or whoever come in yet?" he muttered.

She shook her head. "Nope. Not since I've been awake, anyway."

"I wonder if our parents are still around..."

"Probably not," she admitted, shrugging. "Mom and Dad both have to work today. I think they may be stopping by during their lunch break."

After a moment of silence, he said, "I think my parents said the same thing..."

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

He nodded, tiredly smiling at his wife. "Mmhmm," he responded. "I don't think I woke up once while I was asleep..."

"Same here," she admitted, smiling. "Well, at least we got one night of peaceful sleeping after I was pregnant and before we take Annie home..."

"Already giving her nicknames, eh?" he asked, smirking.

"You started it while I was in labor," she pointed out, smirking in return.

"Annaleigh is quite the name itself..." Duncan murmured, shrugging.

Courtney rolled her eyes, smiling. They had decided to name their daughter Annaleigh Kyndall Evans. They had decided on her middle name weeks ago, but had decided on her first name during labor. Duncan told her he had randomly thought of that name, and despite Courtney thinking he had been thinking about that name for a while, she didn't say anything. She thought it was a beautiful name and instantly agreed on it. They hadn't told anyone the name of their child yet, though. Their parents were busy consoling them, and their friends had all left by that point.

A knock at their door brought Courtney and Duncan away from their thoughts. Suddenly, Michelle's head slowly popped through the door. "Hey," she softly said, smiling as she walked in. "Did I wake you two up?"

Courtney was about to respond "no" when her husband quickly said, "You did, actually. Thanks, Michelle."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "My pleasure," she said, smirking. She looked at Courtney and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Courtney admitted. "But well-rested, otherwise."

"Well, you're lucky to be well-rested," Michelle said. "True, I got some sleep, but I was constantly waken up by the nurses... 'Time to feed!' or 'Time to check you out!' or something like that..." Courtney instantly frowned, and even Duncan didn't say anything. Michelle frowned herself and quietly asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Annie... She, uhh... She's..." Courtney couldn't come up with the words. Tears instantly formed in her eyes and immediately fell onto her cheeks.

"She's in the NICU," Duncan softly said.

Michelle gasped and immediately ran over to the couple's bed. "I am so sorry," she quickly said.

"It's not your fault," Duncan said, wrapping an arm around Courtney.

"Why is she in there?" Michelle asked, softly rubbing Courtney's arm.

"The Doc was worried about her breathing," Duncan said.

"Was it... bad?" Michelle asked.

Duncan shook his head. "Nah. She said nothing was seriously wrong, but that she just wanted her in there for observation."

Michelle nodded. She gave Courtney a smile and said, "I'm sure she'll be out soon. I heard you say Annie... Is that her name?"

Courtney smiled, shaking her head. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and said, "It's just a nickname. Her name is Annaleigh."

Michelle's mouth formed an "o"-shape, but still had a smile. "That's a beautiful name," she said. "So her name is Annaleigh...Evans?"

"Annaleigh Kyndall Evans," Duncan said.

"That is a wonderful name," Michelle said, continuing to smile.

"Better than your son's," Duncan teased.

"Oh, hush," Michelle muttered. "I think Phillip Brian Daniels is a fine name... So where is everyone?"

"Work," Duncan simply said, shrugging. "Though, it is lunchtime, so they should be here any minute..."

"Do they know your daughter's name yet?" When the married couple shook their heads, Michelle laughed. "I bet they're going to love it."

"They have no choice," Duncan murmured, causing Michelle to smirk and Courtney to giggle. He asked his friend, "So what brings you out here?"

"Just dropping by to see how you two are doing," Michelle said. "I also brought this for your little Annaleigh..." She reached into her purse and got out a tiny stuffed animal, a light blue elephant.

"Thank you," Courtney said, gingerly holding the stuffed animal and smiling at Michelle.

"Well, I should be going," Michelle said, frowning slightly as she stood up. "I gotta head back to work."

Duncan grunted as he slowly slid off the bed and walked over to one of his best friends. He hugged her and said, "Thanks for visiting."

Michelle returned the hug and said, "You're welcome. Call me with any updates." She let go of Duncan and walked over to Courtney. She bent down and hugged the recently pregnant woman.

"Thank you," Courtney simply said, returning the hug.

Michelle smiled, nodding. "You're very welcome." She stood up and waved at the couple before walking out of the room.

"I'm hungry," Duncan stated, looking over at his wife. "You hungry?"

Courtney shook her head, slowly getting off the bed. "No," she muttered. "I need to go to the bathroom, though..." She suddenly stopped. She had just stood up, but was feeling incredibly dizzy. She steadied herself against the bed. Her dizziness wasn't helped by the fact that it was painful to her lower regions just by sliding off the bed.

Duncan immediately walked in front of her. "Do you need any help?" She shook her head. Her forehead was creased, her eyebrows were furrowed. She remained in that place, now also steadying herself against the wall. "Um... Are you dizzy?" When she nodded, he said, "Come on, I'll help you to the bathroom..." He walked to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist. He slowly led her to the bathroom, and when they got to the doorway, he asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"Kinda," she murmured. She smiled wearily at him and said, "If I'm sitting on the floor in here when you get back, don't be too surprised."

He chuckled, though he wasn't entirely amused. He was beginning to grow concerned for her post-labor health. "You need me to get the Doctor?"

Courtney quickly shook her head. "N-no," she muttered. "I-uh... This is normal. I think."

He sighed and said, "Let me go find a Doctor, just to find out about Annie," he said, adding the last part in when he noticed her panicky face.

She slowly nodded. "Okay," she finally said.

He smiled at her. He leaned forward and gave her a small kiss. "Just scream if you need anything."

As expected, when Duncan walked into the room, he found Courtney sitting on the floor of the bathroom. "I see everything went well," he said, smirking as he leaned against the doorway.

"I find it more comfortable for my bottom if I'm laying on this cool floor," she simply said.

He rolled his eyes as he walked into the bathroom. He sat on the edge of the bathtub before saying, "The Doc wants to check on you before they bring Annie in here."

She stared at him, her eyes wide. She was speechless. Finally, she asked, "Annie's okay?"

He nodded. "Yep. She was just about to be moved to the...uhh, regular babies area, whatever that's called, when I talked to the Doctor..."

Courtney smiled and bit down on her lip slightly as the tears began to form once again. She didn't care that she kept crying. Her Mom told her that her emotions would still be haywire after delivery. Her crying didn't even go through her mind, though. She was so happy that her daughter was out of the NICU. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Duncan's torso when he came over and gave her a hug.

"Hey," he softly said. "She's okay."

"I know," she said, looking up at her husband, still smiling. "I'm just happy, that's all."

He chuckled, giving her forehead a kiss. "I'd probably cry if I were in your position, too," he admitted.

She let out a soft laugh. "That would be one hell of a sight," she teased.

He laughed. "Come on. Time to get your lazy ass off the ground and onto the bed..."

"You better help my lazy ass off the floor, then," she retorted, looking at him expectantly.

He rolled his eyes and teasingly muttered, "I suppose", before helping her off the floor. He kept his hand on her back as they made their way over to their bed. She winced slightly as she slid onto the bed and sighed in relief when her head rested against the pillow. He just stood next to the bed, his hand resting on her shoulder. She looked up at him and quietly said, "You're..."

"What?" he asked, looking down at her curiously.

"You're quiet," she finally said.

He chuckled and leaned over. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rested his head on top of hers. "I'm speechless," he quietly admitted.

She nodded, wrapping an arm around his torso. "For the first time in your life," she teased.

He chuckled, kissing the top of her head. He was about to say something when suddenly the doors opened. A nurse was walking in, also pulling in a baby holder. Courtney and Duncan immediately set their eyes on their child and watched her be wheeled closer and closer to them.

"Good afternoon," the nurse said, smiling at couple.

"Hello," the two said, quickly shooting the nurse a smile before their attention focused back on their child.

"I figured we could bring your little one in here while we check you out," the nurse said to Courtney.

Courtney smiled, holding out her arms as the nurse carefully picked up their daughter. She almost burst into tears once more when her daughter was placed in her arms. "Hey, baby," she softly said, pulling her child close to her. Annaleigh looked up, her wide, blue eyes staring at her Mom. Courtney fought back more tears as she stared into her daughter's eyes. She knew babies could recognize their Mother's voices in an instant, but didn't really think about it until that moment. "She's so beautiful," she oh-so-softly said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Duncan nodded, his eyes glued on his daughter. He was, once again, speechless. He was in shock, in awe. Courtney and himself had created this beautiful being? Little Annie had wide eyes, just like her Mother, but the color matched his. Her nose also resembled Courtney's, which stuck out in a cute way. "Yeah," he finally said, and had to fight back his own tears when his daughter looked up at him. "_Oh, my God_," he breathed out.

"She recognizes your voice," Courtney quietly said, still smiling at their daughter. They had a plenteous amount of discussions about whether, while Annie was in the womb, she recognized his voice or not. They figured she recognized his touch, which, of course, was a bit rougher than Courtney's, but still soft and gentle. Annie kicked quite a bit when Duncan poked and prodded Courtney's stomach, much to Courtney's dismay. They often found it hilarious when they poked her stomach - they were definitely playing with their unborn child.

Courtney looked up at Duncan and asked, "Can you hold her while the nurse does a few things?"

"Um..." Duncan didn't say anything else. He pursed his lips, and his face contorted into a slightly confused, and definitely a nervous, expression.

"You'll be fine," Courtney quietly said, smiling at her husband.

He quickly nodded, biting his lip. He bent down and prayed that he wouldn't hurt his daughter accidentally right after holding her. Courtney placed Annie into his arms, softly explaining how to hold her.

"There," she said, smiling.

He let out a nervous chuckle, staring down at his child. Annie was staring up at him, almost expectantly. "Hey there," he finally said. Annie blinked, her wide, blue eyes staring into his.

Courtney couldn't help but continue to smile at the sight. She pried her eyes away from them as the nurse checked her over. Her vitals were good; she was slowly, but surely, healing, and everything else was good. The nurse soon left, leaving the married couple alone with their daughter. Courtney turned onto her side, watching Duncan continue to hold and look at their daughter.

"She looks just like you," she quietly said.

He shrugged, looking over at her. "I guess. I think she resembles you a lot more, though."

She slowly turned onto her back as she heard the door open. She smiled at her parents-in-law as they walked into the room.

"I told you they were awake," Duncan's Mom muttered to her husband as they walked in.

"Well, good afternoon to you, too," Duncan teased.

His Mom stopped in her tracks. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Duncan. "Is that her?" she softly asked, slowly making her way towards him.

He nodded. "Yep. Your first grand-baby."

"I can't believe I'm a Grandmother..."

"Do you want her to call you 'Grandmother'?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," his Mom retorted, narrowing her eyes at him slightly.

"You want to hold her, Nonna?" he asked.

"I'd prefer her not calling me Nonna, either..." she muttered, bending down and taking the baby from Duncan's arms. She walked back over to her husband and muttered, "She's beautiful..."

"What's her name?" his Dad asked.

"Annaleigh Kyndall Evans," Courtney said.

Both parents nodded, smiling at the baby in front of them. The newer set of parents smiled at each other, reaching over and grabbing one another's hand. The moment was so peaceful, but Courtney couldn't help but suddenly frown slightly. She thought her parents would have been there by now to see their first grand-child.

"What's up?" Duncan softly asked.

"I... I wonder where my Mom and Dad are..." Courtney muttered softly.

Duncan frowned slightly as well. He bit his lip in thought before responding, "Why don't you give them a call. See what's up."

She nodded and reached over to the bed stand. She grabbed her phone and dialed her Mom's phone number. She smiled at the sight in front of her, which consisted of Duncan and his parents looking down at Annie. She heard bits of Italian coming from Duncan and his Father.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mom."

"Oh, hey, sweetie! I didn't realize you'd be up by now..."

"We woke up about an hour ago..." Courtney muttered. "Where are you and Dad at?"

"We're at work... Surely, you would have figured that out..."

"I figured that much out, but I was wondering if you and Dad were going to visit during lunch...?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie. Your Father and I had to attend a meeting that ran into our regular lunch breaks, so we just ate a quick bite here."

"Oh, okay," Courtney muttered. "What time will you be by later?"

"I, uh... I'm not sure, Courtney. We'll be here at the office late tonight..."

Courtney could barely listen to the excuses her Mom gave her. Her own Mother and Father weren't going to visit their daughter after giving birth? Not even their first, and maybe only, grandchild? She had gotten plenty of lectures for getting "knocked up" at such an early age, but they said they were going to support her because of how "mature" and "responsible" she is. Yes, that was a bit hypocritical, but she expected such things from her parents. She was glad Duncan and his parents had left the room, because she knew she was about to start crying at any moment.

"We'll try our best to stop by after everything is done with," her Mom finished. "Have Duncan's parents visited yet?"

"Yep, they got here a few minutes ago."

"Oh, that's nice. Are they excited?"

"Well, it's their first grandchild, so it's only natural they're pleased..."

"That's good. Well, sweetie, I love you, and I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. I love you, too, Mom." She sighed as the phone call ended. The only movement she made was leaning back into the chair, and turning her body away from the door. She didn't even try and stop the tears and the sobs. She was hurt both physically and emotionally. She was hurt physically for obvious reasons, but was hurt emotionally for a number of reasons. She expected her parents to be there, especially her Mom. She wanted her Mom to be there, sitting by her bed, consoling her through the pain and talking about... well, anything.

"Oh, no..."

She continued to cry as Duncan suddenly appeared in front of her. He scooted close to her and grabbed her hands. "Please don't cry," he softly said.

"I... My parents don't know when they'll be here to visit..." she muttered through her sobs.

"I'm so sorry," he said, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around her. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. "They're going to regret this later," he softly told her.

"I doubt it," she muttered, slowly wrapping her arms around him. "She didn't even sound interested in visiting."

"Can we ban your parents from visiting?"

"Duncan!" she snapped, pulling herself away from him and staring up at him. "No, we won't do that!"

"I was kidding," he muttered, smirking.

"No, you weren't, and I'd appreciate if you didn't make jokes like that. They may do a lot of shitty things, but I still love them."

"I'm sorry," he muttered, grabbing her hand and kissing the top of it.

She softly smiled at him and said, "It's okay. I wonder where Geoff and Bridgette are..."

Duncan shrugged, though he was curious as well. "That's a good question," he said before the realization hit him. "Isn't Malibu's car in the shop? I'm pretty sure Geoff is working, so..."

"Ooh, yeah," Courtney muttered, nodding. "They better be by as soon as he gets off work."

"Oh, I'll make sure that happens," Duncan said, smirking.

**A/N: ...and I finally update! I just moved all the way across the country, and I'm still settling in. I haven't got internet at home yet, but we're getting it installed soon. And I'm constantly out, but I'm thinking about ideas quite a bit... I'll also be including "bonus" chapters, meaning ones that aren't in the current continuity but happened during previous chapters. I hope you all don't mind those. And if you have any ideas, future or past (in this story), please tell me! And please, please, please review! Thank you!**


	7. Those Final Moments

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

After giving birth, Courtney stayed in the hospital for a total of three days. The Doctor and nurses carefully observed Annie the first two days, making sure there was no reason to put her back into any intensive watch. Courtney and Duncan were able to bond with their daughter each of the three days. Their baby didn't do anything except watch them, sleep, or cry, much to their dismay. His parents had stopped by at least twice a day, Bridgette and Geoff had come by once a day, and some of their other friends were able to drop by at least once.

Courtney hadn't spoken to her parents since that upsetting phone call. They hadn't even tried speaking to her. She was often preoccupied by the visitors, the hospital staff, or her own child, but sometimes, when she was by herself, she couldn't help by wonder what was up with her parents. They had never acted this way before. At times, the thought upset her, and at other times, the thought made her mad. She knew Duncan was worried about her. It wasn't just his words that made her think that, it was his actions, the way he watched her. Besides one conversation with Duncan, she hadn't spoken to anyone else about the problems bubbling up within her. She put up a facade around her friends. She didn't need any kind of pity from them. She didn't want them worrying about her. They were there to celebrate the birth of hers and Duncan's daughter, not to worry about her emotional being.

At that moment, it was around midnight, and, despite the nurses personally knowing Duncan's parents, they were informed that they had to leave for the night. Courtney sat up against her pillows. Her arms were crossed, and her legs were pulled up. She didn't even notice that Duncan and his Dad had left the room, just leaving her and his Mom in there together.

"Courtney?" Mrs. Evans softly said, reaching over and resting a hand on the bed. "Do you want to talk?"

Courtney looked over at her Mother-in-Law, someone who had supported her for so long. She never once doubted Courtney and Duncan's relationship, but was, instead, one of the few cheering on the sidelines. Mrs. Evans loved Courtney like her own daughter, and, ever since the two had gotten married, Mrs. Evans couldn't help at times but gush about how happy she was Courtney was finally in the family.

"Why would my own parents do this to me?" Courtney whispered. Her voice was filled with lots of pain and sorrow.

"I don't know," Mrs. Evans softly said. "I know they aren't too particular for my son..."

"The only time they ever seemed partially happy for us was when we were engaged," Courtney softly said. "They seemed shocked, but happy, to find out we were getting married. They helped us so much during that slightly long engagement. Then... We got married, and I found out I was pregnant... Their old feelings returned..." Courtney sniffed, not bothering to wipe away the tears that began to fall. "They barely expressed how happy they were for me. Here I am, having a child with the love of my life, my husband, and there they are, standing with their noses held high in disgust..." She finally lifted her hand and wiped away some of the tears. "It's like they expected one of us to leave the other at the altar... I... I wish they would realize how much they're hurting not only me, but Duncan, and even their grandchild, little, innocent Annaleigh..."

Mrs. Evans sniffed, wiping at the corner of her eyes. Courtney was bringing tears to her eyes. The young woman didn't deserve her parents treating her like this. No child deserved it, honestly, but she was more attached to Courtney and knew the young woman's parents shouldn't be treating her in such a manner. "I'm really sorry this is happening to you," she softly said, reaching forward and patting Courtney's leg.

"You know what I just remembered?" Courtney suddenly asked. She was now staring ahead, but her demeanor had suddenly changed. Moments ago, she was crying her eyes out. While the pain was still there, there was also a hint of anger. "My Mom... While I was in labor, she talked about how I wanted a family when I was a child. Mind you, I don't remember these thoughts, but apparently, me saying those things was video-recorded. She proceeded to say how proud of me she was... She did mention how she didn't say that often, which is true. Neither of my parents really do... And then they go off and do this..." She let out a loud sigh and shrugged. She stared at her lap and muttered, "I don't know..."

Mrs. Evans stood up, bent forward, and gave Courtney a hug. She was speechless for a few moments as they hugged one another. "I love you, Courtney," she softly said. "And... And remember that, even though your parents aren't here, your Mother and Father-in-Law are, and we'll continue to be here for you, Duncan, and Annie."

"Thank you," Courtney whispered, more tears falling from her eyes.

Mrs. Evans quickly kissed the top of the other woman's head before standing up. "Make sure you get a lot of rest tonight," she said, smiling. "We'll be back before you get discharged."

Courtney nodded, smiling. "Good night," she softly said, waving at her Mother-in-Law.

Mrs. Evans waved at Courtney and repeated the "good night" before walking out of the room.

Courtney laid back in her bed. Her hands rested on her stomach, and her knees were still pulled up. Instead of the frown that was once on her face, a smile was now in it's place. It was a small smile, but at least she was smiling. She then realized that Duncan still wasn't back, and frowned slightly. She glanced at the clock, which now read 12:20AM. She shrugged and properly laid down on the bed. She snuggled into the pillow and shut her eyes. She hoped she wouldn't fall asleep before her husband got back, but wouldn't be surprised if that were to happen.

* * *

"Courtney..."

Courtney's body jolted slightly as she felt someone's hand brush against her arm. She quickly opened her eyes, but had to blink them a bit so they could focus. She saw Duncan standing in front of her, smirking. She was so tired she couldn't even speak. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes once more, causing her husband to immediately go, "No, no, no... Don't fall asleep..."

"What time is it?" she muttered, sleepiness evident in her voice.

"A little past one," he said. He gently picked her up and placed her towards the other side of the bed away from the middle and towards the other side of the bed. He hopped onto the bed himself and situated himself on his side. "How long have you been asleep?" he quietly asked, running his hand through her hair.

"I don't know," she muttered, yawning. "A while... Ever since your Mom left..."

Duncan wasn't going to mention that he spent quite a few minutes consoling his upset Ma. Her's and Courtney's "heart-to-heart" had really affected her. Duncan and his Father were quite shocked to see Mrs. Evans in such a state. Duncan could count on one hand how many times he's seen his Ma cry, and he didn't like it any time she did so.

"Why were you out so long?" Courtney inquired, awakening him from his deep state of thinking.

"Just talking to my parents for a few minutes," he explained. "And I went by the nursery and looked at Annie for a few minutes."

She nodded and muttered, "Sorry to be a buzzkill, but I'm really, really..." She yawned as she continued to mutter, "...tired..."

He chuckled and scooted closer to her. He wrapped his arm around her, his hand resting on her lower back. He kissed her forehead, keeping his lips on her forehead for more than a couple of seconds. He then rested his head on top of hers. He quietly told her, "Good night." He smiled because he knew she was already passed out, already in a temporary state of peace, something he knew she needed desperately.

Like his Mom, he was angry at her parents. Who seriously puts their child through something like this? There were moments where Courtney was just a shell, laying in bed. There were other moments where she couldn't stop crying. Of course, she had her happy moments, too, but the more upsetting moments were the ones he remembered the most. The night after that one phone call, he tried talking to her about it, just to fully understand why she upset.

_"Court..."_

_Duncan walked over to his wife's side. He stayed at the end of the bed, his hand situated on the edge of it. He furrowed his eyebrows together slightly before quietly saying once more, "Courtney..."_

_"What?" she asked, looking up at him. Her voice was quiet, too quiet, and filled with pain, too much pain and sorrow._

_"Talk to me," he told her. He had been watching her all day, ever since that phone call. While she acted happy around all the visitors, he could see right through her. True, she was happy, but he could tell that something was off, like something was missing. She acted fine around their child, though, despite all the emotional turmoil that was going through her._

_She stared at him. Her stare was intense, and while he was slightly imtimidated by it, he wasn't going to back down. "You can't understand."_

_He just stared at her, his stare probably more intense than hers. He was almost positive he looked angry; he sure felt angry. He couldn't understand? True, they knew a lot about each other, a lot more than he liked to know at times. Even though he wanted to keep it in, he let out a loud sigh. He shut his eyes and brought his hand up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay," he finally said, his voice not pleased one bit. "I can't understand?"_

_She bit her lip, tears already brimming her eyes. "I-I don't want to fight," she quietly said._

_"Neither do I," he muttered, opening his eyes and letting both hands rest on the bed. "I just..." He let out a breath, hoping his anger would settle down some. "You gotta talk to me, Court. You gotta talk to someone, and I'd really like that person to be me..."_

_"I want that person to be my Mom!" she exclaimed, the tears finally spilling over. She let out a couple of sobs before saying, "She's the only person I want to talk to..."_

_He pursed his lips. He absolutely hated seeing her crying, and he knew her current condition was partially his fault. He didn't mean to snap at her, to sound so angry. "Do you... Do you need a woman to talk to?"_

_"There's a difference between talking to my Mom and some other woman," she softly said, slowly wiping away her tears. "My Mom and I..." She let out a sigh. She ran her now shaky hand through her hair._

_He sat down next to her on the bed. He took her other hand in his and quietly said, "Take your time."_

_She nodded. She shakily told him, "I-I read that a Mother and daughter have an even more emotional bonding once the daughter gives birth. My Mom and I... We don't bond over much. We never have. Not since I was a young child, anyway. When I was in labor, she... Her and I had this nice conversation. I-I'd like to think that brought us closer together in a way. Childbirth... It was crazy. She went through it with me, and I went through it with our daughter. I was hoping that she'd be here today..." Her face began to crumple, more tears falling out of her eyes. "You've never given birth, nor will you ever have to. You'll never fully understand the pain that's associated with it-"_

_"Do you need some medicine?" he interrupted._

_"No," she muttered. "The physical pain I'm feeling isn't bothering me too much, but..." She let out a sigh and said, "You'd be grossed out if I told you all the pain that's occured after giving birth." When he tried to say something, she quickly told him, "And don't say you won't." She let out a sigh. She looked down, her free hand messing with the sheets. "I feel like my Mom's the only one I'd be most comfortable talking with. I... Maybe it's because she gave birth to me."_

_"I know she's not your Mom, not by blood, anyway, but I'm sure my Mom wouldn't mind talking to you," he softly said._

_She remained silent. She continued staring down at the sheets. She finally continued, "I love your Mom, don't get me wrong. She's been so good to me... to us, really. I just... You know how hard it is for me to confide in anyone. You're pretty much the only person I can really tell everything to. Well, except for this, but I doubt many women go through this shit. I can tell certain things to certain people, but... It's not like I can tell everyone everything... I haven't confided in my Mom in years, and... and one of the few times I want to just sit down and talk to her is the time she decides to just..." She shrugged, shutting her eyes._

_He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. She wanted that Mother-Daughter connection she read about, and was crushed when it didn't happen. The one moment her Mom should've been there for her was the moment she wasn't, and it hurt her in so many ways. He didn't know what to say to her. Neither spoke a word as they held each other_.

He would have been lying if he said he hadn't gotten emotional that night. Yes, he had gotten angry, but he had also gotten very upset. He acted like his own Ma had acted; her outbursts reminded him of the ones he had gone through just a few nights prior. His Ma had even threatened to call her parents at that moment, but he quickly stopped her. He almost did the same, but realized that they needed to learn on their own how much they were hurting their daughter.

He let out a sigh as he snuggled himself closer to his sleeping wife. He could only hope they both got a decent night's sleep. It would be the last one they'd get in a very long time, most likely.

* * *

"Hi, Mom. I, uh..."

Duncan was awoken by the soft voice of his wife. He was started to hear her say that. Did her Mom call her? Did she call her Mom? He slowly opened his eyes and saw that she was laying on her back, looking up at the ceiling.

"I wanted to let you know that we're going home today. I-I think we're leaving around Noon. That's what the nurses told us yesterday." She paused once more before quietly continuing, "I'll talk to you later." She took her phone away from her ear, a contemplated look on her face. She finally looked at her husband and said, "Good morning."

"Mornin'," he muttered, sliding up against the pillow. He let out a yawn before asking, "When did you get up?"

"About ten minutes ago," she said. "Before you ask, I called my Mom. I knew she'd be in a meeting at this point. I... As much as I want to talk to her, I don't know how I'd react if I were actually talking to her. Leaving her a voice mail seemed like a better option."

He nodded, propping his elbow up and resting his head against his hand. "At least you called her."

She nodded. "I guess." She turned onto her side and looked at her barely awake husband. She smiled at him and softly asked, "Did you sleep well?"

He shrugged, returning the smile. "For the most part."

"Did you wake up a lot?" she asked, frowning slightly.

He shook his head. "Not too much," he explained. "Just a couple of times. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded. "I did, actually..." She smiled a bit more and said, "I hate to tell you this, but it's only 8:15."

He shrugged. A smirk slowly formed on his face. He told her, "That's fine. We'll be able to have a bit of alone time before anyone barges in here." She giggled, though she was beaming by that point. They leaned forward and kissed each other. Their kisses were sweet and passionate. He situated her so that she was on her back. He stayed in the same place, but wrapped his arms around her waist. One of her hands was situated against his jaw, the other on the back of his neck. They continued their make-out session until they heard the doors open. Their lips lingered against each others, but they immediately shot open their eyes. They were enjoying their make-out session and weren't expecting anyone to walk in so soon.

He suddenly winked at her, causing her to furrow her eyebrows slightly. Suddenly, he shut his eyes and let out this rather loud moan. She certainly wasn't expecting that, and while she should have done the same thing in hopes to scare off whoever walked in, she suddenly began to laugh. She threw her head back into the pillow and let out a boisterous set of giggles.

"Uhh... Are we interrupting something?"

Duncan immediately sat up and turned around. He immediately recognized his Dad's voice. "Uhh, hey, you two," he muttered. His parents were standing in the doorway, both wearing rather confused expressions.

Courtney also sat up slightly and smiled. "Good morning," she said.

"What were you two doing?" his Mom hissed, shock evident on her face.

"Oh, we were just kissing," Duncan defended, getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed. "We weren't fooling around or anything..."

"So, uh..." His Mom sighed. She shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "Oh, you two. Anyways, we've got some good news... We talked to the nurses, and they said, if you wanted, you two could leave early."

Courtney slid up and sat against the pillows. Her and Duncan glanced at each other. What about Annie? They figured the Doctor or a nurse would say something to them if something were wrong with Annie, but still...

"We want to take you two out to breakfast," his Dad explained.

"Did I not mention that?" his Mom quietly asked. When her husband shook his head, she quickly said, "Oh! I'm sorry! We wanted to take you two out to breakfast, so we talked to the nurses. They said we could take the two of you out, once the Doctor gives you one last check-over, but Annie had to stay here until Noon."

Courtney and Duncan nodded, relieved that there was nothing wrong with their daughter. Courtney asked, "When will the Doctor be in here?"

"Any moment now," his Mom said. "So you two want to go out?"

"Sure," Duncan muttered, hopping off the bed. "Let me take a shower real quick..."

"Are you really now just taking one?" his Mom quietly asked.

"Yes," Duncan muttered. "I just woke up, like, ten minutes ago. I don't know how long the Doctor will take. Who knows when the Doctor will even get here."

"Okay, okay," his Mom quickly said. "Just hurry up, alright?"

Duncan rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom. His Dad quickly exited the room, for his phone began to ring. His Mom rolled her eyes in return before walking over to Courtney. She sat on the edge of the bed and quietly asked, "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Good," Courtney said, nodding. She smiled at her husband's Mom and said, "Thank you... Um, for last night..."

Mrs. Evans nodded, smiling at the younger woman. "You are so welcome, sweetheart. Have you talked to your Mom at all today?"

Courtney shook her head. "No," she softly said. "I did leave her a voice mail, though. I knew she would be in a meeting when I called."

Mrs. Evans slowly nodded once more. She grabbed one of Courtney's hands and used her thumb to softly stroke her hand. "When each of my son's were born, after I was released from the hospital, my Mom stayed with me for a couple of days," she said. "She just wanted to give me a helping hand before really letting my husband I venture in parenthood... well, the first time, anyway. The other two times, she helped watch Dylan, and then Duncan as well..." She smiled at the young girl and said, "I, um... I know I'm just your Mother-in-Law. I don't know what exactly is going on with your Mom, but... Would you like me to stay over for a couple of days? You don't have to worry about my job or anything like that..."

Courtney smiled. There were no more tears to be shed. She was done with crying... at least, with any issues concerning _either_ of her Mother's. "That would be wonderful," she softly said.

Mrs. Evans gasped, causing Courtney to giggle. "A-are you serious?" Mrs. Evans asked. When Courtney nodded, she responded, "I wasn't sure what you were going to say... Honestly, I didn't think you would say 'yes'..."

"Our conversation last night really made me think," Courtney softly explained. "I... I thought about how you've always been there for Duncan and myself. You've always been there supporting us. When I gave birth... I thought my Mom and I would have this new emotional bonding." She shrugged. "I pretty much gave up on that idea last night..."

"You shouldn't give up on that idea," Mrs. Evans softly said, squeezing Courtney's hand. "It's quite possible your Mom is scared..."

"Of what?" Courtney softly asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Of letting you go," Mrs. Evans said, smiling softly.

"I don't understand..."

"All of my children are still my '_babies_', whether they like it or not." Mrs. Evans and Courtney shared a laugh before the older woman continued, "It's scary to think that Duncan, my middle '_baby_', has a baby of his own." She paused. "It's not that I don't have any faith in him, in you, it's... It's like the momma bird kicking the baby out of the nest. Duncan hasn't lived at home in a long time, but... Okay, maybe it's not like the momma bird kicking the baby bird out, because he can call me at any moment and I'll be there in a heartbeat..."

Courtney couldn't help but grin. Duncan had the same problem as his Mom; he rambled quite a bit, especially when he tried comparing things.

Mrs. Evans sighed before saying, "It's hard to explain, sweetie. It's this weird '_Mother's Intuition_' thing, though. No parent wants to see their child mess up-"

"What are you two talking about?"

"Did you even take a shower?" Courtney asked, raising an eyebrow at her husband, who just walked out of the bathroom.

"Yes," he grudgingly muttered. He raised an eyebrow himself and said, "I guess the Doctor hasn't looked at you yet. You're still in bed."

Courtney narrowed her eyes at him. "Your observing skills amaze me."

"I got out of the shower and heard something about a mother bird kicking it's child out... Then I stopped listening," Duncan muttered, walking over to his bag.

"Could you not change in the bathroom?" Courtney hissed, glaring at her husband. He had just thrown off his shirt, making her notice he was now only in his boxers.

"Yes, sweetie, maybe you should've..." His Mom stopped talking as soon as the Doctor walked in.

The Doctor smiled at Courtney and Mrs. Evans. "Good morning," she said to the two of them.

"Good morning," they replied, smiling.

"Mornin'," Duncan muttered, standing up.

The Doctor, surprised, glanced over to her right and saw Duncan putting on his shirt. She let out a sigh and said, "Good morning, Mr. Evans. I appreciate you being clothed this time."

"_What_?" Mrs. Evans exclaimed.

Duncan rolled his eyes. "I left the bathroom door open while I was changing yesterday... Oh, she only saw my butt," he explained, noticing his Ma's horrified expression.

"Well, let's get you checked out so you can go have a nice breakfast," the Doctor said.

Mrs. Evans immediately got off the bed. She pointed at Duncan. Once he furrowed his eyebrows at her, she pointed at the door. "Outside," she sternly said. He rolled his eyes and followed her out the door.

"I apologize again for my husband," Courtney said.

The Doctor laughed. "It's quite alright. I have seen things a million times worse than that."

Courtney laughed. "I imagine so."

The Doctor smiled, writing down things on her clipboard as she checked Courtney over. "So, are you ready to bring Annaleigh home?"

Courtney nodded, smiling. "I am. I'm ready to take her home and just..." She shrugged. "No offense, but I'm ready to leave the hospital. Same goes for my husband."

The Doctor nodded, still smiling. "No offense taken. Most people really don't like to come to hospitals."

Courtney nodded in agreement. She looked over as she heard the door open. Duncan smirked at her as he walked in. "Ma'll be waiting for us outside," he explained.

"Well, Mrs. Richardson, it seems like you're good to go," the Doctor said, smiling. "I know you'll be back in a few hours. If you need to ask me anything, we'll talk then, okay?"

Courtney nodded, smiling at the Doctor. "Thank you."

After the Doctor walked out of the room, Duncan said, "Ma and Pa are waiting..."

"Shut up!" Courtney exclaimed, glaring at him. "The Doctor just walked out of here!"

He rolled his eyes, smirking. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He paused and said, "But seriously..."

"I'm getting up," she muttered, slowly getting out of bed. She walked over to her bag and sighed. "I don't know what to wear..."

"Um... I'm sure you don't have to look too nice..." he said, walking over to her and leaning against the wall.

"All I've worn since I've given birth is sweat pants," she said. "That's three days of wearing sweat pants. I know I'm wearing jeans, I just don't know which ones... Or which shirt..."

"How many clothes did Bridge pack for you?" he muttered.

"I lost weight immediately after giving birth," she muttered, glaring at him. "My hips are still wider than before, but I've lost some stomach weight... I have no idea what pair of pants I fit into. Same thing with shirts." She sighed and grabbed a couple of things from the bag. "I'll be back in a minute." He nodded and watched her walk into the bathroom. A minute later, she emerged, wearing a black sweater and a pair of jeans. "Does this look okay?" she asked.

He nodded, smiling. "You look fine," he softly said.

She smiled. She put on her shoes and coat before grabbing her purse. "Let's go," she said.

"I... Crap," he muttered, following her out of the room. "I didn't bring a coat."

"Go get it from the room," she said, stopping and looking at him.

He shook his head, standing beside her. "I didn't bring my coat. All I have is that jacket I brought..."

She just stared at him. When he didn't move, she said, "Go get that. I'm pretty sure it's really cold outside." When he returned wearing his jacket, she said, "Actually, I think this is your coat..."

"You wear it," he said, smiling. He placed his hand on her back and led her down the hallway. "Don't need my '_baby mama_' getting hypothermia..."

She giggled, wrapping her arm around his torso. "I hope it's not that cold," she muttered. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Duncan, I don't think we bought a coat for the baby."

He paused, his eyes also widening. "Shit," he muttered. "I think you're right. I think all we have are a bunch of onesies..."

"We have to get warmer stuff for her when we're out," she said, quickly exiting the elevator.

"We can't stop by the apartment...?"

"The apartment's about half an hour away," she muttered. "I doubt we'll be more than ten minutes away from here."

"Okay, so we'll just go to some store and get some stuff for her..."

"Yeah, and what store is open at 8:30?"

"So we'll eat first. No biggie. Oh, hey, lemme see something..." he muttered, taking her hand and dragging her to the front desk. He smiled at the receptionist and said, "Good morning... I was wondering if it was possible to go ahead and pay for everything..."

"Of course," the receptionist said, smiling. "Let's see... Mr. Evans and Mrs. Richardson, correct?" They nodded. "Okay... With... Annaleigh Kyndall, yes?"

"Yes," they responded, smiling. He had his hand on her back again, and she was leaning against him, her hand resting on his chest.

"Huh..." the receptionist muttered. "Well, it seems like everything has already been taken care of."

Duncan and Courtney just stood there. "Who took care of it?" Courtney asked, breaking the silence.

"Here..." The receptionist stood up and placed a piece of paper on the counter in front of them. "This is your bill. I'm only giving it to you for your records. Your parents, Mrs. Richardson, paid for everything."

Courtney's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious?" she immediately asked. "But... When?"

"Uhh..." The receptionist sat back down and typed something on her computer. "Four days ago."

"I was in labor then," Courtney muttered, letting out a sigh of relief.

"How did they pay for it then?" Duncan interrupted.

"They took care of the necessities then, and then when other things popped up on their bill, it was charged to their card then," the receptionist explained.

Duncan nodded. He took the bill and folded it up up before putting it in his pocket. "Cool," he muttered. "Well, thank you very much."

"I...I can't believe my parents did that," Courtney quietly said as they walked off.

He chuckled. "Same here." He grabbed her hand and swung it around some before saying, "Hey, now we don't have to pay for anything..."

She rolled her eyes. "We had plenty of money for that."

"I know." He shrugged. "Now we have extra money for, like... more baby clothes. Diapers. All that."

She sighed as they stepped outside. "Where are your parents?"

"Here they come." As he watched their car drive towards them, he rubbed his arms. "Damn it! It's really cold out here..."

* * *

"Do you think she'll need two hats...?"

"I think there's plenty of clothes on her already..."

"I don't want her to get too cold..."

"I don't want her to get too hot..."

Courtney sighed, staring down at their daughter. Annie's wide eyes were staring back and forth between the two of them. The nurse had brought their daughter into the room, and Courtney and Duncan needed to change her into more warmer clothing before they took her home.

"You think she looks fine?" Courtney softly asked, staring down at their daughter. She ran a finger across the baby's cheek, smiling as her and her daughter looked into each others eyes.

"Perfect," Duncan said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "The car-seat's been checked out, it's good. The baby's dressed in very warm clothing. I doubt anything will happen to her."

She smiled up at her husband, who returned the smile. "This is it," she softly said.

He nodded. "Yep... No Mom, no Dad..."

"Well..."

He rolled his eyes, patting her back. "Yeah, yeah, until tonight... I love you, Court."

She beamed at him. She reached over and patted his back. "I love you, too, Duncan. You ready to take the baby home?"

His smile grew bigger. He truly was excited to take his daughter home. It had been him and Courtney for the longest time, and while he was fine with that, things felt more complete now that they were taking a baby home. It was like they were meant to be a family.

"I am ready."

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews :) Keep 'em coming!**


	8. Stressing and Sweet

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**_Beeeeeeep!_**

Courtney woke up with a jolt. It took her a few seconds, but she finally realized she was awaken, yet again, but someone driving down the road. She let out a sigh as she realized the predicament her and her husband were in yet again. They had fallen asleep on the couch, yet again. At least it wasn't on the floor, in a chair, or against the wall. They rarely made it back to their beds when attempting to nap while their daughter was.

"You okay?" Duncan murmured, sleepiness clearly evident in his voice.

"Mmhmm," she murmured, peering up at her sleepy husband. "How long ago did we put her down?"

He slowly lifted his hand up to his face. After blinking a few times so he could focus on his watch, he muttered, "Forty-five minutes ago."

Courtney knew she wouldn't be going back to sleep. It was hard enough to even get a bit of shut-eye during the day time. The sun was actually starting to set, but there was still enough sun outside to consider it daytime. She wasn't one to take naps during the day, and even after having Annaleigh, it seemed like she would never pick up that habit. Duncan could occasionally get some sleep during the daytime, but even when they both got some sleep, the smallest of noises would wake them up. They often kept their phones off for long periods of time after a series of phone calls almost sent them over the edge.

One time, Bridgette kept trying to call Courtney. After the third attempt, Courtney almost threw her phone against the wall. Luckily, Duncan caught it in time, and he turned it off and placed it in one of their clothes drawers. Later that same day, after a very unsettling afternoon where it seemed like Annie would never stop crying, Duncan's Mom called him. He was already in a stressed out mood, for they just put Annie in her crib. Their daughter immediately woke up once the phone rang, and Duncan ended up snapping at his Mom.

Cars always seemed to wake them up the most. Since they lived in an apartment complex, some of the fellow residents decided to walk around the complex. Their voices, too, woke up the married couple, who wanted to throw plates and other items at the people passing by.

"_Fuck_," she whispered, continuing to rest her head on his chest. "I'm so not getting back to sleep."

"Neither am I," he quietly said.

Both were too tired to really move around. Courtney's eyes wandered the room and soon fell upon their lit Christmas tree. Christmas was the following day. A few days before Annie was born, they decided to get out their fake tree and decorate it. Neither had picked out any Christmas presents by then, and had expected to go shopping within the next few weeks before the major holiday. Of course, Annie was born over one month early, and because all of their attention was devoted to their daughter, neither could really get out of the house and shop for each other. They desperately wanted to, and every time they had to go out and buy diapers or other baby needs, they would grow depressed at the thought of not having bought anything for the other one. They hadn't expressed the thoughts to each other yet, though.

Courtney suddenly felt the need to say something. "Christmas is tomorrow," she softly said, now staring at the floor.

Duncan remained silent for a few moments, trying to remember what day it really was. "You're right," he murmured.

She looked up at him, and he looked down at her. The sadness was evident in their eyes. They suddenly knew what the other was thinking, and neither were truly surprised.

"Have we decided if we're letting anyone over?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know... What do you say?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I want to call Ma whenever I can to tell her if they can actually come over or not... What about your parents?"

"I don't know," she repeated, her voice even quieter. Her parents and her hadn't spoken since the afternoon after she gave birth. They had sent her a couple of packages here and there (mostly filled with baby clothes and accessories), and she had sent them e-mails with pictures of Annie, but that was the only sort of communication they had. "I told them we're not doing anything for Christmas."

He nodded. He let out a long sigh and said, "This is gonna be the first year we don't have anything under the tree..."

She nodded, now staring at the tree once more. "I hate this," she whispered.

He didn't say anything. He instead slowly rubbed her back. Things were so different than they expected them to be. They knew they wouldn't be sleeping as much, but they didn't realize the toll it took on them. They knew babies cried a lot, but it was frustrating not knowing what she exactly needed. Fortunately, they were beginning to pick up on Annie's various cries. Courtney still had a long way to go before going back to work, and Duncan himself had recently returned back to work. He was given a two-week break, but had to return back a week and a half prior to that day. The days and nights when Duncan wasn't there went by a little bit too slowly for her liking. She sometimes, in the back of her mind, feared Duncan wouldn't return home, that him going to work was just a cover-up. There were a few days where she cried out of joy upon his return, just because of that fear.

"Your family can come over tomorrow night," she suddenly said, looking up at him once more. "Bridge and Geoff can stop by for lunch or something like that..."

"They can all bring us food..." he muttered, smiling softly.

She also smiled softly. They hadn't eaten any truly home-cooked meals since Annie's birth. They had many microwavable meals, and also plenty of fruits and vegetables and other light snacks to much on. Between looking after Annie and trying to rest, there wasn't enough time to stand around, cooking a nice, hot meal. They also were barely able to keep their apartment clean. They had to wash clothes while Annie was awake, otherwise the loud noise would wake her up. The same applied to vacuuming and washing their dishes and other household chores. Well, they were afraid of waking her up, since the vacuum actually woke her up once.

Duncan peered around the living room. It wasn't too messy. Annie's stroller and carrier were a bit in the way towards the door, and her blanket was in the middle of the floor. They had a few pairs of easily slip-on shoes sitting close to the door. Their dishes needed to be washed; a pile of plates, silverware, and other kitchen materials just sat in their sink. "I'll clean up tonight," he muttered.

Courtney looked across what she could see of the apartment nodded. "I'll help you."

"_No, no_. You try and get some sleep. I'll just keep an eye on her while I do everything."

She let out a sigh. They tried doing this before, where he would clean and she would "rest", but she never ended up resting. She'd find something to do and would continue to stay awake. He didn't argue with her, for he knew that they would snap and start screaming. Maybe she would finally take him up on his offer tonight. It was Christmas Eve, after all. As sad as it was, this would probably be the closest things to presents that they'd be giving each other. He would let her have the night off, and she would allow him to actually clean and such for once.

"Okay," she finally said. As she slowly sat up, she said, "I'm sure you want to get started soon..."

He gave her a smile. He knew she would actually rest this time. Together, they slowly got off the couch. Both were still exhausted, of course, for very different reasons. He wrapped an arm around her waist as they headed back.

"Where are you going to start cleaning?" she asked, looking up at him.

"The kitchen," he said, slowly rubbing her arm. "I'm not going to get into every crack and corner, though. I'll just wipe down the counters, make sure the dishes are all cleaned, put everything up... Then I'll move into the living room. If Annie's awake, I'll wait to dust intil later. Um... Same with vacuuming..."

The trouble with life post-delivery was that her emotions were even worse than they were while she was pregnant. She felt like crying while Duncan was talking. She wasn't sure why she was crying. He wanted her to relax for a while, so it wasn't like she was laying around while he was cleaning. She let out a shuddered breath.

"Hey," he softly said, squeezing her closer to him. "No need to get upset..."

"I'm not," she said, smiling at him. "I'm not sure why I was about to cry. I'm not sad, though, so maybe I'm happy..."

"Happy your husband's cleaning the house?" he teased.

She giggled, resting her head on his arm. She blinked a few times before looking up at him again. "Thank you."

He shrugged, not too phased by the gratitude. "Not sure why you're thanking me, but... _Pas de probleme_..."

"When did your Dad start teaching you Italian?" she asked, leaning against the doorway of their bedroom.

He leaned against the other side of the doorway. He pursed his lips, contemplating. He let out a mix between sigh and humming noise and crossed his arms. "I'm not sure," he said, shrugging. "I mean, I've been speaking Italian for as long as I can remember. Better than my brothers, too, but anyway... When I call Ma later, I'll ask her. I hope you don't want me to start teaching it to her tonight."

"No," she said, rolling her eyes. "But... Maybe you should start speaking in Italian around her. Not necessarily to her at this moment, because I wouldn't want that affecting her learning English..."

"And she's only three and a half weeks old," Duncan slowly said, smirking.

"I'm pretty sure my parents spoke either to me or around me in French at that point," Courtney explained, pointing her finger at him and smirking.

"And I'm sure my Dad did in Italian," he said, continuing to smirk at her. He then had another contemplative look on his face. "I... I think we're in a predicament, babe."

She frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, my parents... I generally spoke to my Dad in Italian, for that's what we spoke to him in," he explained. "And then we spoke in English to my Mom."

She slowly nodded, pursing her lips. "Hmm..." She crossed her arms. "I... I think my parents did the same thing," she quietly said. "Well, my Mom with English and bits of French, but my Dad mostly with French, at least until I started middle school..." She looked up at him, concerned. "How are we going to pull that off with Annie?"

Duncan shrugged, though he looked concerned as well. "I'll talk to Ma," he softly said. He gave her a soft smile and said, "Now, go on and... I don't know. Read. Listen to some music. Sleep. Take a bath."

"Are you implying that I stink?" she teased.

He chuckled. "Definitely."

She giggled, rolling her eyes. "Go on and call your Mom," she said. "I'm going to take a bath."

"Have fun," he said. He patted her head before slightly ruffling her hair and walking off.

She continued to smile as her hand barely went through her hair. She walked across the hallway and into the bathroom. After shutting the door, her hand rested on the doorknob for a few moments. She walked in front of the mirror and looked at herself. Yes, there were bags under her eyes. She had seen worse on herself before, which was a good thing. She would have been mortified if the bags were extremely dark and Duncan had not told her. She looked at her hair, which didn't look quite so bad, either. As she ran her hand through her hair, she realized that she wasn't looking at it clearly, because her hair was extremely dry. She took off her shirt and folded it before putting it down. She looked up and stared at herself, yet again, in the mirror. She wouldn't take off her bra until she was ready to get into the bath - her breasts needed all the support they could get. They were still a lot bigger, unfortunately. They were already big before she got pregnant, and having a child only made things worse. Her stomach, thankfully, had no stretch marks; she made sure to use anti-stretch mark lotion when she was pregnant. Her stomach still stood out, but at least she didn't look like she was six months pregnant like she did when she left the hospital.

She let out a sigh and walked over to the tub. She started the water before taking off the rest of her clothes. She put some bath salts in the tub and just stood there, watching the tub fill up. She suddenly remembered she had some Lavender bath soap, so she pulled that out of a drawer and put some into the tub. She then sat on the edge of the tub and dipped her feet in. She smiled to herself; she hadn't taken a bubble bath in years. She stopped the water once it reached a certain point and she slowly got in. The water was hot, but she wanted it that way. She didn't know how long she would be in there, and she didn't want it to get cold quickly.

She let out a sigh of content, a relaxed smile quickly forming on her face. She let out a moan. The salt mixed with the bubbles mixed with the hot water was a wonderful combination. She shut her eyes and rested her head against the wall behind her. Her arms rested against the sides of the tub, one dangling off the edge. While the shower she took after delivering was arguably the best shower she had ever taken, this bath was definitely an experience to remember. The salt and the bubbles had this soothing sensation that immediately helped her achy body.

A knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts. She looked over as the door opened. Her husband peeked through the door, curiosity written all over his face.

"You okay there?" he slowly asked.

She nodded, a relaxed smile still plastered on her face. "_Oh yeah_," she said.

He chuckled. "Don't have too much fun in there."

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand, trying to get him to leave. "Don't have too much fun cleaning."

"Oh, I won't."

She couldn't help but giggle as he shut the door. She then leaned forward and dipped her hair in the water. She ran her hands though the hair, loving the feeling. She then sat up and grabbed the shampoo. She continued cleaning her hair, scraping her fingers against her scalp to really clean her hair. She dipped her hair into the water once more, but kept her head like that for some time. After a few minutes, she sat up once more. She scrunched her hair, getting rid of all the excess water. She then used a hairband to put her hair into a sloppy bun on the top of her head. She folded her arms over the edge of the tub and rested her head on her arms.

She let out a sigh and shut her eyes. The water was just perfect, and it was, honestly, making her sleepy. She knew she'd be taking a bath and trying to sleep while Duncan cleaned and watched Annie, but she didn't think she would be doing both at once and, quite frankly, that sounded like a wonderful idea. Soon, sleep overtook her, and she hoped she wouldn't be woken up for a long time.

* * *

"Let's go see if Mommy's okay..."

Annie just laid in Duncan's arms, looking up at him. He smiled down at his daughter and gave her forehead a kiss. He was constantly mesmerized by her eyes, which were beautiful and seemed to bore into his soul. People had always told him he had such a unique and pretty shade of blue eyes. He never really paid attention until his daughter was born. People were telling him his daughter had the exact same shade of eyes as he did, which he soon agreed with.

When they got to the bathroom, he slowly opened the door. He immediately grinned at the sight in front of him. Courtney was fast asleep, still in the same position as earlier from when she fell asleep. "There's Mommy," he softly said, quietly walking towards his sleeping wife. He then added in Italian, "_C'e la mamma_..."

Annie was looking around the room when they first entered, but her eyes shot up at him as soon as he started speaking in Italian. Duncan smiled at his daughter, softly patting her back. His Italian family often marveled at how well he spoke Italian. He figured Annie couldn't understand him, but rather liked what she was hearing coming out of his mouth.

He bent down and sat on the floor next to the tub. He let Annie's feet rest on the ground, but he kept a firm grasp on her back and on the back of her head. "What do you want to do to wake Mommy up...?" he softly asked. Suddenly, a loud scream emerged from Annie's mouth. It was incredibly short, but it was so loud that it startled Duncan. It also startled Courtney, who jolted at the noise.

"Hmm...?" Courtney quietly asked, blinking and looking around. Her eyes soon landed on Duncan and Annie, and she softly and sleepily smiled at them. "Was that you?" she asked Annie, who was smiling at her Mom. Courtney continued smiling at her daughter before her eyes grew wide. "Duncan," she quickly said, looking at her husband.

"Yep," he said, grinning. "She's been smiling since I walked into her room."

She beamed and looked at her daughter. "Well, we'll have to celebrate, now won't we?" She looked at her husband and asked, "Did you change her diaper?"

He nodded. "Yep, just changed her."

"Well, take off her diaper. Little Annie and I are going to have a bit of bonding time..."

"Are you sure?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean... This is your resting time..."

"I'm not getting out of the bath," she explained. "I want her in here with me."

Duncan nodded and proceeded to take off Annie's diaper. Afterward, he lifted his baby up and, while still protectively holding her, slowly put her in the water. Courtney bent her knees and placed a firm grasp on Annie as she put her stomach-down on her chest. "There," she softly said, softly stroking her baby's back. She looked up at Duncan and asked, "How long was I asleep?"

"Um..." He shrugged. "I don't know. It's been over an hour since you and I last talked, though, so..."

"So about an hour," she said, nodding. "Has she been awake long?"

"Oh, maybe ten minutes?" He shrugged. "Let's see... She woke up, 'cause she needed to be changed, so I changed her. I showed her the living room, where she just kept smiling and smiling..."

"Somebody's already judging her dirty our house is, eh?" Courtney asked her daughter, giving her head a big kiss.

Duncan chuckled. He took his phone out of his pocket as soon as it started to ring. He grinned. "Finally, Ma calls back," he muttered, He patted his wife's head before getting up and walking out of the room.

Courtney smiled and continuing stroking her daughter's back. Suddenly, Annie sneezed. Courtney patted her daughter's back softly and quietly said, "Well, bless you, baby. That was quite a sneeze there." She slowly moved Annie up so that her head was resting against Courtney's collarbone. "I love you, baby," she quietly said, kissing the top of her head once more. She sat there in silence for a few minutes, continuing to stroke her baby's soft body.

A knock brought both of them back to reality. Annie jolted slightly in Courtney's arms. "It's okay," she softly said, watching the door open. When her husband popped in, she said, "It's just Daddy..."

"Huh?" he asked.

"'_Huh?_'" she mimicked, smirking.

He rolled his eyes. "Picture time," he said in a sing-song tone. He held up a camera before squatting down in front of the tub.

"Why don't you sit down?" she asked, frowning slightly. "I don't want you toppling over and hitting the baby with yourself or the baby..."

He rolled his eyes before sitting down. He crossed his legs and held up the camera and started taking pictures.

"Are we supposed to be acting natural?" she asked with an amused smile.

"Whatever." He shrugged.

"Hey, Annie," she said, looking down at her daughter. She then pointed at Duncan and his camera and said, "Smile for Daddy..."

"Hey, baby," he slowly said, smiling.

"Who are you talking to?" she asked with an amused smile.

He shrugged, smirking. "Whoever responds first."

Courtney laughed. She threw her head back while laughing, but unfortunately hit the wall. She let out a hiss, a pained expression on her face. "_Ow_..."

Duncan snorted, though he couldn't help but feel bad for her. "You okay there?"

She nodded. Her eyes were shut, and she was biting her lip. "Totally didn't expect to do that."

"I don't think too many people purposely hit their heads on the wall," he said, smirking. He then put his camera into his pocket before reaching forward and started to rub the back of her head.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. He smiled at her, continuing to softly stroke her hair. They leaned forward, their lips meeting in the middle. She reached up and cupped his cheek in her hand. He continued to keep his hand in her hair. He used that one hand to take out her hairband, allowing her hair to cascade down to her shoulders and upper back. He then rested his other hand on her upper neck, running his thumb across her jaw. She so wanted to wrap her other arm around him, and even though her daughter was laying fine against her chest, she still wanted to keep that hand on Annie.

Duncan broke the kiss, much sooner than Courtney intended. Their forehead's rested against each others, the two of them smiling at each other. What Duncan said next shocked Courtney to the point of tears.

"There's so many words to describe how much I love you right now..."

She sniffed, looking up and blinking her eyes rapidly. "Shit," she muttered. Despite her emotions, she was still smiling. "You're making me cry in front of the baby..."

He chuckled, kissing her forehead. "No cussing in front of the baby," he teasingly chastised.

"Oh, hush," she muttered, rolling her eyes. She then held up her baby slightly and said, "Can you take her out and clean her off? It's hard enough getting up and sitting down like this..."

"_Sure_," he sarcastically said.

She glared at him, still holding Annie. "Duncan."

"I'm kidding." He grabbed a towel before grabbing Annie. "Let's dry off the baby..."

"Is my robe in here?" Courtney asked.

Duncan looked around before shaking his head. "I don't see it... Want me to get it?"

She nodded. She flashed him a smile and sweetly asked, "Please...?"

"That's called sucking up," Duncan informed his daughter.

Courtney scoffed at him, letting out a few laughs. "You don't need to be teaching our daughter that."

"Eh, she won't remember what I said this time tomorrow," he said, winking at his wife. He then walked out of the bathroom, quietly chatting to his daughter.

Courtney continued to sit in the tub, amazed. Her husband was one amazing man. She used to try and figure him out, hoping to really know what went on inside his head. She eventually stopped, though. She liked being surprised by him. She liked not knowing what to expect out of him. He was still immature at times, but he was so mature, mature in ways she never expected years ago. He was a natural at being a Dad, and she knew it had a lot to do with his Mom. She was a very nurturing woman, and truly wanted the best for her children.

"Your robe," Duncan dramatically said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at her husband. She looked at her daughter and instantly began laughing. Annie was dressed in a pink robe that had a few flowers around the it. The hoodie was petals sticking out. Even her booties were pink. "Oh, baby," Courtney said. "What did Daddy do to you?"

"Isn't she cute?" he asked, beaming.

"That's one way to describe her," she said, still smiling broadly. "Now, get out so I can change."

"Mommy is so harsh," he murmured to Annie. He winked at Courtney before walking out of the room.

Courtney slowly got out of the tub, making sure to hang onto the railings. After drying herself on, she slipped her robe over her body and tied it up. She grabbed her clothes and walked out of the bathroom. She went back into her bedroom and, after placing her clothes in a basket, looked through her clothes. She wore sweats and not the most flattering clothes since her daughter was born. She was so used to wearing long, baggy pants and baggy shirts. She grabbed a pair of gray shorts and form-fitting gray shirt and put those on. Not necessarily a step-up from the "lazy day" department, but she wasn't wearing any kind of baggy clothes.

She stepped out of her bedroom and walked into the living room, where she found Duncan laying on the floor. Annie was laying stomach-down on his chest. She smiled at the sight. "Cute," she said.

Annie's eyes darted towards at Courtney, and Duncan turned his head towards his wife. "Who's cute?" he asked.

"The two of you," Courtney said, sitting down on the floor next to them.

He smirked, shrugging. "I know she is..."

"Oh, that's right," she murmured, patting his shoulder. "You're not cute. You're extravagantly sexy and gorgeous and hot..."

"That's right." He winked at her before looking at his daughter. "Mommy looks pretty tonight, doesn't she? Wearing her nice short shorts..."

"Daddy may think I'm pretty," Courtney explained, bending down so we was closer to her daughter. "But he's also thinking some other things. Mommy's glad Daddy didn't fully speak his mind..."

Annie had the cutest smile. It was sweet, small, and simple. Her wide eyes continuously twinkled as she smiled at her parents. Courtney figured Annie was just imitating them, and liked to smile because her parents always smiled at her.

Later, after Annie was put to bed, Courtney and Duncan headed to their bedroom, where they laid in bed and quietly chatted with each other.

"What time are your parents coming over?" Courtney asked.

"Around ten-thirty," Duncan said. "They're bringing over some food for a brunch. Ma said Dylan and Danny may come over, too. She doesn't want us overwhelmed..."

"I think we'll be fine," she said. She looked over at her husband and smiled at him. "I think Annie will like seeing everyone."

He nodded in agreement, returning to smile. "As much as I don't want everyone over... I think my brothers will like to see Annie. Especially Danny, since he hasn't seen her yet."

She nodded. "I texted Bridgette, and she said she can't come over since her's and Geoff's families will be there, but we can drop by at any time..."

Duncan shrugged. "We'll see how brunch goes tomorrow..." After Courtney knowingly looked at him, he continued, "And we'll see if we can ever get Ma to leave..."

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! They definitely help me with the story, as well as help me write faster. I try to write back and forth between this story and "The Time of Our Lives", but that one's causing me a bit of a block right now... Since I don't have work tomorrow, I may be able to just come up with something between tonight and tomorrow night. Hopefully I will! I've got a lot of this story planned out, and I'm so excited to right it. Please continue reviewing!**


	9. RSV

_Dislcaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Yay! An update on the same day as another story! I actually had a lot of this written when I posted the last chapter for "The Time of Our Lives", but I just needed to finish this chapter. The chapter after this will also have a big surprise. Bring on the guesses! And thanks for the review. Keep bringing those, too! The more the merrier, right? Enjoy!**

"Duncan, I need to show you something."

Duncan slowly nodded, furrowing his eyebrows. Those were the first words Courtney said to him after he walked in the door. Yes, he was exhausted after working, and really, he just wanted to lay down and try to sleep. As quiet as she was, she sounded truly worried, and he feared it had something to do with their daughter, whom they had been worried about for a few days now. He followed her and frowned when they were going into Annie's room. "Is she okay?" he worriedly asked.

Courtney shrugged. "I don't know. Listen to her breathing. I think it's gotten worse."

He walked over to her crib and bent down. He let out a sigh when he realize Annie's breathing was worse. Her breathing was ragged, a lot worse than it was earlier that day. He looked at Courtney and asked, "Have you called her Doctor?"

She just stared at her husband before covering her face with her hands. She let out a sigh and said, "I'm a horrible Mom..."

"_No, no, no_," he quickly said, straightening up and wrapping his arms around her. "You've been alone with her for the past seven hours. You didn't know what to do."

Courtney nodded, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so worried about her," she softly said.

Duncan nodded, kissing the top of her head. "You know, Court, it may be best just to take her down to the hospital. Who knows if anyone is at her Doctor's office."

Courtney nodded. She pulled away and looked up at her husband. "I'll get the car warmed up if you want to get her changed."

He nodded. He handed her his keys and turned to his daughter. She walked into their bedroom and put on a coat and a hat. She grabbed her purse and went outside. She got into his car and started it up. She sat there for a few seconds, just staring ahead. She then rested her head on top of the steering wheel and began to cry. Annie had been coughing, something which only got progressively worse over a couple of days. Her breathing had also gotten worse. Duncan and Courtney weren't sure what to do. Unfortunately, Duncan had to work a lot during those couple of days, so he didn't get to witness everything she had.

She crawled over to the passenger seat when she saw him come outside. She turned around and watched him put Annie into her car seat. Annie, strangely, was wide awake, at least more so when Duncan came home, but she was breathing very loudly. Her chest pumped up and down as she breathed. "Oh, my God," Courtney whispered.

"You wanna get back here with her?" Duncan asked.

Courtney instantly nodded. She jumped out of the car and walked to the back. She got in, sitting herself next to her daughter. "Oh, sweetie," she softly said. Annie looked up at her Mom, her wide eyes seemingly scared. Her look wanted to make Courtney cry, but she stayed strong and confident in front of her daughter. "Everything will be okay," she said, resting her hand near Annie's hands.

"How could she have gotten sick?" Duncan asked as he began to drive off.

"I don't know," Courtney quietly said, frowning. "Where all has she been lately..."

"My family came over for Christmas..."

"I think if anyone was sick, she would have caught it by now."

"Um... Oh, crap."

"What is it?"

"Remember? Ma watched her a few days ago. She took Annie to the police station because she had to pick up something..."

"You think she picked up something from there?" Courtney asked.

Duncan shrugged. "That's the last place she's really been to..."

Courtney sighed. She looked down at her daughter, who was holding onto a couple of Courtney's fingers. She used her thumb to stroke her daughter's hands. "You'll feel much better soon, baby," she quietly said. "Mommy promises."

* * *

No words could be said. It was even hard to think at that point.

Courtney was astonished she hadn't crawled onto the floor, curled up in a ball, and screamed her eyes out. Duncan was surprised for a few reasons. He was a bit surprised he wasn't angry at himself, and he was surprised he was allowing himself to cry.

Their daughter, Annaleigh, had been diagnosed with RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

The news had been shocking to both. Courtney had a suspicion that had been the case, but it wasn't like she was about to gloat about how she was right. The Doctor said he had never heard of a child getting RSV from a police station, he mentioned that he wasn't surprised she had picked it up from there, since all sorts of people visited the place each and every day. Duncan feared telling his Ma that Annie picked up a potentially deadly disease from her workplace. He knew his Ma would immediately feel guilty and would probably apologize for a long time to come. The Doctor explained to them that Annie would have gotten RSV one way or another, since every child picked it up by the age of two. Unfortunately, because Annie was premature, and since she was barely over a month old, the disease could really have an affect on her.

Both Duncan and Courtney knew she could die. Neither wanted to think about that thought. Annie was their precious daughter. She made them feel complete in so many ways. They thought they were close before she was conceived. They had grown closer in so many ways during Courtney's pregnancy, and even after Annie was born. As hard as parenting was sometimes, and as much as they didn't think they would like it, they loved it. It was hard not to love it when they had a daughter like Annie.

The Doctor said he was going to keep Annie in the hospital overnight, so he and the nurses could observe her, to see if the condition got any better. They kept her hydrated with fluids and had a humidifier set up in hopes that it would help clear some of the mucus. Duncan and Courtney already knew they were going to stay at the hospital with their daughter. No way were they going to leave their daughter alone. Duncan was scheduled to work the next day, but felt the need to call out so he could be around his daughter. He couldn't get out of his full shift - another manager could pick up part of his shift, but he had to cover the rest. Instead of being at work from 7AM-3PM, he would be at work from 12PM-3PM. Courtney was relieved that she was still on maternity leave. Even if she wasn't, she would definitely call out. She would be at the hospital the entire time her baby was. It was hard enough letting his Mom keep her overnight earlier the week.

They were currently in the hallway beside the room where their baby was staying in. They got tired of a nurse or two continuously being in there. The Doctor insisted the nurses fully observe Annie those first few hours. They were sitting next to each other on a bench. Her head was resting on his chest, her arms wrapped around him. He had one arm wrapped around her, and his other hand held her arm. She had tears constantly running down her cheeks, but she didn't sob or cry out loud. Instead, she sniffed from time to time. Even he had a few tears running down his cheeks, but he wiped them away.

Courtney looked up at Duncan. She reached up and gently wiped away the new tears that had fallen. She continued to gently stroke his cheek with her thumb. He looked down at her, smiling softly. Neither knew what to say to each other. Neither ever taunted each other when they were seriously crying. Neither knew the other wasn't "okay".

"I'm thirsty," he quietly said. "You want to come with?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

They stood up, shakily on her part. He kept his arm wrapped around her as they walked down the hallway to the vending machine. They each got a water before heading back to the room. They decided to head back into Annie's room, and weren't surprised to find a nurse still there.

What did surprise them was when the nurse said, "So Annie hasn't gotten any worse, but she hasn't gotten any better. We're not going to be keeping a constant eye on her, but we will be back once an hour to check on her."

Courtney and Duncan nodded. "Do you know how long she'll be in the hospital?" Courtney asked.

The nurse shook her head. "RSV takes a bit of time to go away. We'll keep her here until her breathing stabilizes, but she may continue to have a cough for some time."

Courtney nodded, feeling another lump in her throat. The Doctor's explained to them earlier there was no real treatment for RSV, and they were not about to allow any kind of experiment on their daughter. The Doctor said there was a chance she could also get pneumonia, and if that happened, then they would put her on some antibiotics. Ever since Annie left the NICU, Courtney feared that Annie would be sent back to the hospital for some illness. She didn't want her daughter to be constantly in the hospital.

As soon as the nurse left, Courtney began crying once more. Yes, she was glad Annie was in the hospital, where Doctor's and nurses would be able to best help her. No parent wanted their child to become so sick that they had to be in the hospital.

Duncan wrapped his arms around her and quietly said, "Hey..."

"_What_?" she muttered, the tears evident in her voice.

"We gotta stay strong for Annie," he softly said, lifting her chin up so she could look at him. "We don't want her to get more upset because we're upset."

She nodded, sniffing a couple of times. "You're right," she softly said, looking behind her and at her daughter.

* * *

Duncan laid on his side, staring at his wife. He softly ran his hands over her hand and through her hair. He couldn't sleep that well, and was surprised that she was still knocked out. It was almost 8AM. They laid down around Midnight, but he could only stay asleep for so long. While they were in the room next to Annie's, he checked on her a couple of times, and wasn't surprised to find out she needed help breathing at this point. He was upset, yes, but would rather her be connected to a breathing machine than struggle breathing on her own. He hadn't told Courtney yet, because she needed all the rest she could get, and he wasn't about to take that away from her.

A buzzing from his pocket brought him out of his thoughts. He stared at the I.D., which read "Ma". He slowly got out of bed and walked into the hallway. "Hey," he softly said.

"Sweetie, what's going on?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. He hadn't told her anything yet, nor had Courtney. "Pardon?"

"Well, I went on Facebook this morning and Geoff had posted, '_Thinking good thoughts for Little Annie_'..."

That brought a smile to Duncan's face. That was nice of his friend to say that. But then he frowned suddenly, remembering why his friend said that. "Annie's in the hospital."

His Mom gasped. "What? Why?"

"She has RSV."

"Oh, my God..." She paused before letting out another, more pained, "_Oh, my God_..."

"Ma," he softly said. "It's not your fault."

"Sweetie... I know you didn't take her anywhere after I dropped her off the other day. It is my fault."

Duncan sighed once more, leaning against the wall. "I mean... She was bound to get it sometime. I wish it hadn't been now, but... Get it out of the way sooner than later?"

"I wish it were that simple," his Ma softly said. "Did the Doctor explain to you any of the repercussions of having RSV?"

"Um... Not really. We didn't ask. He just told us that we'd have to keep her here until her breathing go better. Oh, well, he did tell us RSV could turn into pneumonia or something like that, and that he would give her antibiotics if that were the case."

"Honey, some of the long-term effects of RSV include asthma and other breathing problems..."

"You know, I'm trying to keep a positive outlook and I'm hoping none of that will happen to Annaleigh," Duncan persistently said, trying not to get angry. He knew his Ma meant well, but he didn't want to hear any of that.

His Mom let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Duncan. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay," he softly said. "I just... I'm really worried about her. They put some tubes in her nose to help her breathe."

"_Duncan_!"

Duncan quickly looked over, for a frantic Courtney was standing in the doorway. "Uhh, Ma, lemme call you back..."

"I have no idea what's wrong with Annie, b-but it seems like there are tubes up her nose..."

He slowly nodded, walking over to her. "Those are helping her breathe."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "How do you know that?"

"I woke up right as they were doing it."

"And you couldn't tell me?" she exclaimed, hurt evident in her voice, eyes, and face. "When did this happen?"

"I'm not sure," he muttered, instantly realizing he was wrong about her. "Maybe two hours ago?"

"My baby has been hooked up to a breathing machine for two hours, and you wouldn't tell me?" she quietly asked. She was mad, livid, extremely upset. She didn't know what he was thinking!

"I'm sorry," he softly said, reaching forward.

She backed away from his reach. "What possessed you to keep this to yourself?"

"Excuse me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Why on Earth would you keep this from me?"

"I thought you would like the rest!" he snapped. "I wanted you to get some sleep. Neither of us have really gotten any lately, and I know you really needed the sleep, the alone time. Aren't you glad at least one of us knows? If I hadn't woken up, who knows if the Doctor or a nurse would've even come into the room!"

"I'm almost positive they would have!" she exclaimed. "They would've told us! They would've told me! _Unlike you_!"

"I said I was sorry, okay!" he exclaimed before turning around and walking into their private room. He slammed the door behind him before leaning against the wall. His breathing was hard, and his heart was pounding.

Courtney continued stand outside, shocked by the scene that just unfolded in front of her. She had no clue what just happened, but she knew she was frightened and upset. She realized they finally cracked. The pressures of parenthood and life finally caught up to them, and in a most unfortunate situation. He was constantly working, and then he came home and helped take care of Annie. She stayed home all day taking care of Annie, and while at times she thought she worked more and harder, she couldn't help but think how much more he worked. While she received maternity leave checks from the government, he was really solely providing for the family at the moment. Their sleepless days and nights were becoming harder and harder to handle. With Annie now in the hospital, after all the hard work they put into taking care of her, it seemed like everything was falling apart.

She knew a fight or two like this was inevitable, but she really hoped it wouldn't happen. Now that it did, she didn't know what to do. She figured it was best to try and talk to Duncan, though. She walked over to the door and gently knocked on it. "Duncan," she quietly and calmly said.

"It's open," he muttered from inside.

She opened the door and stepped inside. She shut the door behind her before saying, "Duncan, I'm sorry."

He let out a sigh, shrugging. He had gotten angry, a little too angry a little too quickly. "It's okay."

"No, it's _not_ okay," she told him. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. And I am happy that at least you knew about what went on. I just wish you would have told me, okay? Sure, I would have rushed to her side, and I probably would have cried some like I did when I first saw her this morning, but I probably would have gone back to bed, too." She reached out and gently rubbed his arm. "Believe me, waking up to find Annie on a breathing machine with you nowhere in sight wasn't how I planned on really waking up."

He smiled softly. He looked over at her and said, "I'm sorry for yelling at you, and for not telling you about Annie. I probably would have reacted the same way."

She nodded, smiling at her husband. "I forgive you. But, next time..."

"_Yeah, yeah_," he muttered, smirking. "I'll make sure to wake your sleepy-self up."

She laughed, leaning against the wall next to him. "We just fought," she quietly said.

He stared at her. He sarcastically asked, "Oh, really now?"

She glared at him. "You know what I mean!"

"Actually, I _don't_. Please explain."

"We haven't really fought since Annie was born," she said, shrugging. "Yes, we've had squabbles and we've bickered here and there, but we haven't really fought."

"Is this an important revelation?" he asked, still confused.

"Kind of." She paused for a few moments. "I don't know. Fighting seems like an important part of a relationship."

"I hope you don't expect us to be fighting a lot."

"Not a lot," she muttered. "But... I don't know. Don't you feel better after that fight, though? Like a lot's been lifted off your shoulders?"

He nodded, shrugging. "Yeah. Kinda."

She shrugged once more. "At least Annie's asleep."

"Yeah, she wasn't when they were putting that tube up her nose..."

When Courtney gave him an angry look, he realized that he'd have to really think about what he did and didn't tell her.


	10. Shocking Reunion

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

It felt nice to get some fresh air. Yes, it was the middle of January, so it was freezing cold, but Courtney thought the walk was nice. Of course, after a while, it got a little too cold for her, so she headed back inside. She was ten feet away from the door when she stopped in her tracks. She stared in disbelief at the person that was exiting the hospital.

It was her Mom.

"Mom?" she softly asked, still in complete disbelief.

Her Mom immediately looked at her. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at her daughter. "Courtney?"

Neither knew what to do or say as they stared at each other. Courtney didn't knew if or when she'd see her Mom again. "Um... What are you doing here?" Courtney softly asked, stepping closer to her Mom.

Her Mom looked away, towards the ground. Tears brimmed her eyes as the quietly said, "Your Father had cancer."

Courtney couldn't move. She couldn't say anything. "He... He had cancer?"

Mrs. Richardson nodded. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Courtney asked, tears brimming her eyes.

"We found out right before you gave birth," her Mom explained, leaning forward and rubbing her daughter's arm. "We knew you'd be distracted with the baby, and that you'd probably be overly stressed with these new responsibilities and your hormones going haywire... We didn't want to stress you out any more."

"What if I hadn't given birth then?" Courtney asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Would you still _not_ have told me?"

"I don't know," her Mom quietly said, sighing. "I'll admit, us not telling you probably was not a good thing, but it was for your best interest."

Courtney slowly nodded, her jaw clenched shut. She was numb. So this was why her parents weren't talking to her for the past five weeks? Her Father was in the hospital. Her Dad had cancer! He could be dying! She had given birth to her daughter. They had a grandchild. Nothing made sense in her head.

"So, what are you doing here?" her Mom asked.

Courtney looked at her Mom, her face blank. "Annie has RSV."

Her Mom frowned. She then leaned forward and gave her daughter a tight hug. "Is she alright?"

"She's on a respirator," Courtney softly explained, gently wrapping her arms around her Mom. "She hasn't gotten any worse, but she hasn't gotten any better... What kind of cancer does Dad have?"

"Colon cancer."

Courtney shut her eyes, biting her lip. Colon cancer? She knew it was one of the most common forms of cancer. She sniffed, a few tears falling down her cheeks. "How long have you known?" she softly asked.

Her Mom started rubbing her daughter's back. "We've known for almost two months, but he's had a few problems that are related to the disease for a while now."

"Has he had surgery? Chemo? Radiation?"

"He had surgery last week," her Mom explained. "He's recovering right now. The cancer is gone, but they're keeping him for an extra few days just to be on the safe side."

"Can I see him?" Courtney quietly asked.

Her Mom stiffened. "I, um... I was about to head to work myself, because I was just visiting on my lunch break, but..."

"Please?" Courtney quietly and sadly begged, pulling herself back and looking at her Mom's face. Tears were still falling down her face. "_Please_, Mom. Don't keep me out of your life anymore-"

"It wasn't like that," her Mom said, frowning.

"_It felt like that_!" Courtney cried, stepping back from her Mom. "Yes, you sent packages and I sent e-mails, but that was it! There was no vocal communication. You weren't there for me, Mom, and you wouldn't let me be there for Dad. How could you not tell me he was in surgery? Duncan would have understood watching Annie while I came here to support Dad! I'm still on maternity leave, so it's not like I have to miss work-"

"Your baby is a lot of hard work, sweetie."

Courtney let out a sigh, crossing her arms. "I said, Duncan would have watched her. Even Bridgette would have watched her! Or Duncan's Mom! There would have been no problem."

Her Mom sighed before quietly saying, "He's in room 718."

Courtney nodded and sprinted into the hospital. She wiped her eyes as she got into the elevator. Her Dad was only two floors above Annie. She reached his floor and sped-walked to his room. She took a deep breath as she knocked on his door.

"It's open," she heard from inside.

She was shaking. She was terrified. She slowly opened the door. She peeked her head inside and said, "Daddy?"

He looked shocked to see her standing there. "Courtney?" he softly asked.

She nodded, stepping inside. "I saw Mom outside, a-and she told me you were in here..."

"Did she tell you why?" he asked.

She nodded, sitting down in the chair next to his bed. "Mom told me the surgery was successful."

He nodded, letting out a sigh. "It was." He remained silent before asking, "So you ran into your Mother outside?"

She nodded. "Y-yeah. I, uh... Annie was admitted into the hospital last night."

"Oh, sweetie," he softly said, holding his hand out. When she grabbed it, he said, "I am so sorry. What's wrong?"

"She has RSV," she softly said, wiping away her tears.

"I remember when you had RSV," he said, softly smiling. "Your Mother and I were terrified. You had just gotten over the chicken pox, so we were worried you had some sort of infection from the chicken pox."

Courtney nodded, smiling at her Dad. "I wish I could bring her down here," she said.

He shrugged. "You know, I could always accompany you to her room."

Courtney stared at her Dad, wide-eyed. "Really?" she asked, smiling.

Her Dad nodded, returning the smile. "Of course. I'm feeling a bit tired today, so you'll have to wheel me up to the room..."

Courtney looked around the room and saw a wheelchair in the corner. She immediately got up and walked over to the wheelchair. She grabbed it and pushed it towards his bed. "Do you need help getting out of bed?"

He shook his head. He attached his IV bags to a pole before slowly getting out of bed. He got into the chair and smiled at his daughter. "Lead the way."

She couldn't help the grin that popped up on her face. She pushed her Dad out of the room through the hospital. Their chatter was simple, mostly about Annie. When they got to the room, Courtney placed her Dad right next to Annie's cot. "Hey, baby," she softly said, bending over and stroking her daughter's forehead. "Annie, this is your Grandpa... Dad, this is Annie. Or Annaleigh. Annie's just her nickname."

Her Dad smiled fondly at the baby. Even he had tears in his eyes as he looked at his granddaughter. "She looks just like you," he softly said.

Annie looked at him, her wide eyes curiously staring at him. He couldn't help but stare back.

"I guess," Courtney said, shrugging. "I think she looks a lot like Duncan..."

"I can see it," her Dad softly said, still staring at Annie. "She seems to have his hair and eye color, but she's got your nose, your wide eyes, your high cheekbones... She looks a lot like you did when you were a baby."

Courtney softly smiled, sitting down in a chair next to her Dad. She looked between Annie and her Dad, who were still staring at each other. "I think she recognizes you," she softly said.

He looked at his daughter, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I've shown her pictures of you and Mom before," Courtney explained, smiling at her Dad. She looked at her daughter, who was now looking at her. "Yep, Mommy's shown you pictures of Grandma and Grandpa before."

"Grandma and Grandpa?"

She shrugged. "Duncan's parents are Grammy and Papa, and, well... You and Mom are Grandpa and Grandma."

"That's fine," he said, reaching over and patting her hand. "It's so strange to hear, that's all."

She smiled. She instantly turned around when the door opened. Her husband was getting back from work. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the person next to her. '_Who's that_?' he mouthed.

"Hey Duncan," she said.

Her Dad immediately turned around. "Hello."

"Hello, Mr. Richardson," Duncan said, nodding at the older man.

Mr. Richardson smiled. "You know, David is just fine."

Duncan smiled softly. He looked at Courtney and beckoned his head towards the door.

"Dad, I'll be right back," she said, instantly standing up. She furrowed her eyebrows, curiously looking at her husband. "What's going on?" she asked after they stepped outside and away from the room.

"Why's your Dad in a wheelchair?" he asked.

"He had surgery last week for colon cancer," she softly explained.

Duncan's eyes widened. "Wha-... _Euh_..." He was flabbergasted. "Really?"

Courtney nodded. "I took a walk outside for a few minutes and ran into my Mom as I was coming back in. She told me what happened. I went to visit him, and I wanted him to see Annie."

He shrugged. "That's fine. I was a bit surprised, that's all. Mostly because I had no idea who was sitting next to you." She let out a small laugh. He smiled, reaching forward and resting his hand on this side of her head. "Are you alright?" he softly asked.

She shrugged, letting out a sigh. "Yes and no," she softly said. "Annie's in the hospital, Dad's in the hospital... But Dad got to meet Annie, and she got to meet him."

He nodded, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around her, bringing her closer to him. She immediately wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. Neither had expected this type of reunion between Courtney and her parents. He was personally glad they hadn't disowned her. Why they would do that, he wasn't sure, but that thought had popped up in his head every now and then.

"How was work?" she softly asked, lightly stroking his back.

"It was alright," he muttered. "Kinda busy."

She nodded. "Must have kept you preoccupied."

He frowned slightly. "Annie never once left my mind," he quietly told her.

Surprised, she looked up at him. For a few moments while she was talking to her Dad, Annie's situation actually left her mind. "Really?" she asked, shocked.

He nodded. He was about to explain something when a nurse walked into their room. He furrowed his eyebrows and followed the nurse in, Courtney right behind him.

"Aah, Mr. Richardson," the nurse said, walking over to the older man. "We were worried about you for a second!"

Mr. Richardson chuckled. "Well, I'm sorry. I was just spending time with my granddaughter."

The nurse looked down at the child, smiling. "She's quite the cutie." She noticed Courtney and Duncan standing in the doorway and asked, "Is she your daughter?"

The couple nodded, smiling. "Yep," Duncan proudly said, wrapping his arm around Courtney.

"Well, Mr. Richardson, it's time to head back downstairs for a little while," the nurse said. She turned to the couple and said, "You two can visit in a little while."

They nodded. The nurse began to wheel to wheel Mr. Richardson out of the room. Courtney bent down and gave her Dad a hug. He hugged her in return, kissing her cheek. "I love you, Courtney," he softly said.

She smiled, tears brimming her eyes. "I love you, too, Daddy. We'll be by later, okay?"

He nodded, patting her back. "I look forward to it."

Duncan gave her Dad a smile as he left the room. Courtney just stood there, not uttering one word. She slowly moved over to a chair and sat down in it. Duncan bent down in front of her and asked, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. She placed her hand on the side of his head and started rubbing it gently. "I'm shocked, that's all."

He nodded. He leaned forward, resting his head on her stomach and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned down, gently wrapped her arms around his neck. "I hope this never happens to us," she softly said.

"Me, too."

* * *

A knock awoke the couple. Duncan was only half-asleep, but Courtney was fully asleep. "I got it," he murmured, slowly getting out of bed and walking over to the door. He opened it slightly and was surprised to find Courtney's Mom standing there. "Hello," he sleepily muttered.

"Hello," she said. "Is my daughter in there?"

"She's asleep," Duncan said to her. When her Mom didn't budge, he said, "Let me see if she'll wake up..." He shut the door and walked over to his wife. "Babe, your Mom's here."

Courtney let out a sigh, slowly opening her eyes. "What does she want?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'll ask her."

"If she wants to visit Annie... Give me a few minutes."

He nodded and walked back over to the door. "Just give her a few minutes," he explained.

"Is my granddaughter in there?"

He shook his head. He stepped into the hallway and said, "She's right next door... She should be asleep, though." He opened the door to Annie's room and chuckled. Annie was curiously looking around, but smiled at her Dad as he walked in. "Hey, baby," he said, sitting down next to her cot. "Grandma's here to visit..."

"Annie, right?" Courtney's Mom cautiously asked.

Duncan nodded. "Yeah. Well, or Annaleigh."

His Mom nodded, cautiously approaching the baby. "Hey, Annie," she softly said, smiling at the baby who stared curiously at her. "I'm your Grandma..."

Duncan smiled softly as Annie instantly gave her Grandma a smile. Babies were always smiling at everyone, including random strangers they may never meet again, and he found that amazing. Of course, Courtney's Mom wasn't some stranger. He was glad the older woman was finally visitng the youngest member of the family.

"She's precious," Mrs. Richardson softly said, gently touching the baby.

Duncan nodded in agreement. He locked eyes with his daughter and smiled at her. She heartily smiled in return. While she smiled at pretty much anyone who smiled at her, her biggest smiles were for him and Courtney.

"Where is Courtney?" Mrs. Richardson asked, looking at Duncan.

He pointed to the door behind him. "She's in our room," he explained. "She may have fallen back asleep..."

Courtney's Mom stood up and walked out of the room. Duncan scooted closer to the cot and rested his head and arms on top of it. "It's just you and me, baby," he softly said to his daughter. Annie looked at him before letting out a loud sigh. "Mmhmm," he said, nodding. "I'm glad Grandma's outta here, too."

* * *

"Courtney?" Mrs. Richardson asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Courtney groaned, slowly waking up. She blinked a few times before muttering, "Hey, Mom..."

The girl's Mom frowned at her daughter's appearance. "Are you alright, darling?"

Courtney nodded. "I haven't slept well lately," she quietly said. "And I suddenly don't feel well."

Mrs. Richardson leaned over and began rubbing Courtney's arm. "You're not pregnant again, are you?"

"No!" Courtney instantly said, her eyes widening. Duncan and I... No. There's no possible way I'm pregnant." Before her Mom could object once more, she bluntly said, "Duncan and I haven't had sex since before Annie was born."

"Well, I hope you're not really sick," her Mom quietly said.

Courtney nodded. "It's possible I'm just hungry, since I haven't really eaten today."

"Why don't you and Duncan grab something to eat?" her Mom suggested.

Courtney cautiously looked at her Mom. "I, um... While that sounds nice-"

"Let me watch her for a little while," Mrs. Richardson softly said, grabbing her daughter's hand. "Your Father is asleep, and I'm sure you and Duncan want to spend a little alone time together, even if it is just grabbing a bite to eat."

Courtney slowly nodded, letting out a sigh. "You're right," she softly said. She smiled at her Mom and said, "Thanks."

Her Mom nodded, leaning forward and giving Courtney a hug. "It's the least I can do."

Courtney returned the hug, holding onto her Mom for a few moments. She was incredibly glad her Mom was here and offering to watch their daughter. She let go of her Mom and got out of the bed. She was already in casual clothes, for she happened to fall asleep in them earlier. She walked into her daughter's room and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. "You want to grab something to eat?" she softly asked. "Mom said she'll watch Annie."

He nodded, looking up at her. "You ready?"

She nodded, She smiled at their now-sleeping daughter before walking out of the room with her husband. True, they technically had alone time when Annie was asleep, but they had to stop whatever they were doing when she woke up. There had only been a few moments where they weren't watching her, and as much as they didn't want to leave their daughter, it felt nice to be alone together for a while.

There wasn't much of a selection at the hospital. They decided to just grab some food at the McDonald's that was there. After getting their food, they found a table in an isolated part of the room.

"Did you sleep well?" Duncan asked.

Courtney shrugged. "Not really," she admitted. "My stomach's been upset for the past few hours."

He pursed his lips. "Well, maybe it's a good thing that you're eating? Maybe you're just hungry..."

She nodded. "But if it's not that..."

He took another bite of his burger before saying, "Well, we'll see how you feel overnight. If you get worse... Well, good thing we're at a hospital!"

She smiled, rolling her eyes. "Yes, that is a good thing."

He chuckled. "So, Annie gave your Mom a smile when she walked into the room."

"Did she?" she sweetly asked, beaming. When her husband nodded, she said, "Oh, how sweet!"

"Of course, she gave me a bigger smile," he re-assured his wife.

She rolled her eyes, but a smile remained on her face. "At least she's still smiling at people. I'd feel so bad if she were too sick to smile..."

He nodded. "That would suck."

**A/N: Kind of a shorter chapter, but full of surprises! I hope you liked it! There was only one review for the last chapter... Let's try to do a few more this time! Your reviews mean a lot, as they do to anyone who writes stories. Enjoy!**


	11. A Plan

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

Courtney laid in her bed, softly stroking her's and Duncan's dog, Katie. A couple of days after Annie was admitted into the hospital, Courtney ended up becoming sick with the stomach flu. Because she had the basic symptoms, which included vomiting and diarrhea, she was still able to feed her daughter. But, she didn't want to stay in the hospital hooked up to IV's, so she decided to go home and endure the sickness there. As soon as she got home, their dog ran up to her. She felt so bad for their dog, who probably felt ignored after the baby was born.

After she got home that day, even though she was positive she was going to throw up at any moment, she decided to take their dog for a walk around the neighborhood. She needed to walk around, and she knew their dog desperately needed to as well. Of course, she did throw up on the street in front of their apartment as they got back from their walk. She'd rather be sick in front of her place than in front of another person's place. She proceeded to lay down with their dog afterward, who seemed content on just being rubbed.

Of course, Courtney spent time at the hospital each day. Duncan had to work everyday that Annie was there, so while he was at work, Courtney was at the hospital. She wanted to start staying at home overnight, for Annie's health was slowly getting better and better. Duncan was a bit nervous at first, but finally gave in. They could actually get the house cleaned, which was something they hadn't done in a few weeks.

Annie was in the hospital for one week. The doctor's were amazed at her speedy recovery, considering she was a premature baby who was only, at the time of being released, six weeks old. She was proud of her baby; she gave birth to a real trooper, that's for sure. The nurses fell in love with Annie, for the baby was always smiling at them. Courtney didn't tell anyone, but she figured that was a way for Annie to say "thank you" to the people who were helping her get better.

Her Dad was discharged from the hospital two days after she first saw him there. She was still in a state of shock. She was still a bit frustrated that she wasn't informed of her Dad's condition, but was relieved that he was healthy. After he got discharged, instead of going home, he said he wanted to spend time with Annie, even if it was just with her up in her room. That brought tears to Courtney's eyes, for she thought just days before that her parents didn't want anything to do with their granddaughter.

The opening of the front door brought Courtney out of her thoughts. She looked at Annie, who suddenly started to wag her tail. "Stay..." she softly commanded before saying, "Huh, I wonder who that is..."

"...you're glad to be home, huh? No more icky hospitals and fake nurses and rude doctor's..."

Courtney rolled her eyes before sitting up. Katie instantly moved up next to her, and Courtney continued petting the dog. "Duncan," she said, softly but loud enough to where he'd hopefully hear her.

Within seconds, he had popped up in the doorway, holding Annie. "_There's Mommy_!" he happily exclaimed, earning a squeal of excitement from Annie's mouth. Even Katie barked and immediately jumped off the bed.

Courtney laughed, rolling her eyes. "Great, you've got _both_ our children riled up." Duncan chuckled. He walked over to the bed and carefully sat down. Katie immediately jumped up and snuggled in between the two adults. Courtney smiled fondly at her daughter, "Hey, baby," she said, reaching over and softly stroking her daughter's hand. She looked up at her husband and asked, "What did the Doctor say?"

"She still has a tiny cough, and that may stick around for a while," Duncan explained, earning a sigh and a nod from Courtney. "Yeah, yeah. It sucks. But, of course, her breathing is better. There's no more mucus in her..."

"Mommy's super happy Annie's no longer sick," Courtney quietly said to her daughter. "Mommy and Daddy were super scared..."

"Daddy still doesn't understand why Mommy wanted to leave during the night..." Duncan teased.

Courtney rolled her eyes. She then looked between Duncan and Annie. There were so many similarities between the two of them, the biggest similarities being her black hair, her teal eyes, and her fair skin. Annie had the looks of her Dad, with the exception of her wide eyes, which were like Courtney's, but her facial construction mirrored Courtney's, with her cute, short nose, and her high cheek bones. She told their daughter, "You are a perfect mix of Mommy and Daddy."

"It's too early to tell," Duncan muttered.

Courtney stared at her husband, confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"She can't talk yet! Who knows what kind of personality she has..."

She rolled her eyes. "Nice, Duncan. You know what I meant."

He nodded, closing his eyes. "Mmhmm. I also know I want to sleep..."

"No sleepy-time for Daddy," she said, giving his arm a few pokes.

* * *

"We need to baby-proof the place."

"What made you think that?"

Courtney rolled her eyes at Duncan's grumbling. They were in Annie's room. Courtney was sitting down in the rocking chair watching Duncan change Annie's diaper. Duncan was having a bit of a struggle changing Annie's diaper, for she insisted on continuously moving around. "Well..."

"_Don't_."

"_Duncan_!" she snapped, glaring at him.

He sighed, focusing on finishing changing the diaper. Annie had a goofy smile on her face. He sighed, lightly smiling at their daughter. "Someone's putting up an extra struggle today," he muttered, grabbing Annie's hands and swinging them slightly.

"She's gonna start rolling around any day," Courtney said, propping her legs over the side of the rocking chair. "Then she's gonna crawl, then walk, then run... Then she's gonna bonk her head on a nail, or... or stick her finger in a socket!"

He turned around, now holding their nine-week-old daughter in his arms. "Uh-huh."

"It's true," she said, accusingly pointing a finger at him. "She'll do it. That's why the websites and the books recommend we cover up the sockets!"

"Mommy looks comfortable in that chair..." he murmured. While he was talking to his daughter, he didn't look at her. Instead, her was smirking at his wife. "Mommy looks a little too uncomfortable in that chair..."

Courtney raised an eyebrow at Duncan. "If you are thinking about flipping this chair over, or somehow shoving me out of the chair... You better think twice while holding your daughter."

He coyly shrugged. He then jerked his thumb towards the crib and said, "I could always put her in there, and then do whatever I was planning to do to you..."

She groaned, throwing her head back slightly. "Damn it, Duncan," she muttered, slowly getting out of the rocking chair.

He laughed, walking over to her. "I wasn't gonna do anything," he muttered. "I was seeing if you would get up or not, and, well..."

She glared at him, crossing her arms. She then lessened her intense stare as she looked at her daughter. Courtney told Annie, "Daddy's so mean sometimes."

"Mommy's just as mean sometimes," Duncan quietly said to her daughter, kissing her forehead as he looked at his wife.

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Come on. Everyone will be over soon..." She sighed as she walked out of the room. "And one of our parents will talk about baby-proofing the place."

"I'll get my Ma and Pa to do it," he reassuringly said, following his wife.

She sighed, watching Duncan place their baby stomach-down onto her blanket in the living room. As Duncan walked into the kitchen, Courtney bent down and laid in front of their daughter. She rested her head on top of her arms before asking, "Are you excited to see Grandma, Grandpa, Grammy, and Papa tonight?"

Annie slowly lifted her head, smiling at her Mom. She let out a soft cooing noise, her mouth hanging open in a wide smile. She then plopped her head back down on her arms, letting out a loud sigh.

Courtney sympathetically smiled at her daughter. She scooted herself to where she was looking into Annie's eyes. "It's okay, baby," she softly said. "You're doing such a great job."

"Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day," Duncan told his daughter. He then quietly asked his wife, "That is the expression, right?"

Courtney laughed, nodding. "Yes, that's the expression."

He chuckled as he walked into the living room. He sat on the couch, holding his bowl of cereal close to him, making sure it wouldn't fall. He smiled at his wife as she turned onto her back.

"What are you eating?" she slowly asked.

"Cheerios," he said, bringing a spoonful into his mouth. He smirked at his daughter, who was curiously staring at him. "Baby, I wish I could give you some of these, but the Doctor said we couldn't give you any solid foods for a few more months..."

Annie let out another sigh, much the amusement on her parents.

Courtney looked at her daughter and giggled quietly. "Baby, you're drooling again," she said, smiling. "Good thing we have all those bibs from the baby shower..."

"Grandma's gonna hate that," Duncan teased.

Courtney rolled her eyes. "If Grandma gets upset, she can wear a towel or something while holding Annie," she explained. She then softly said, "So your birthday is in two and a half weeks..."

He continued chewing on his cereal, but thoughtfully looked away. After a few seconds, he quietly said, "Yep... Oh, God, I'm turning 24."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Yep. You're officially ancient."

He also rolled his eyes before asking, "So what did we do last year?"

"Are you kidding?" she immediately asked, quickly sitting up.

He questioningly looked at her. "What?"

"Isabelle was born!"

"Oh, yeah!" He then chuckled. "Oh, yeah. And we argued."

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Now you remember."

"That was an interesting birthday, going from kinda engaged to kinda broken up to really engaged..."

"I guess '_interesting_' would be a way to describe it..."

"So what are we doing this year?"

"It's your birthday, darling, you decide."

"Well... I dunno, actually." He carelessly shrugged. "I've got two and a half weeks to decide."

A knock on the door gained their attention. Courtney coyly smiled at her husband. "Duncan..."

He rolled his eyes. He placed his bowl on the coffee table before getting up and walking over to the door. He opened it up and was immediately engulfed in a hug by his Ma. "Hey, there."

"Oh, sweetie, we've got such good news for you!" his Ma gushed, tightly holding onto her son.

"Mom, don't tell him..." Duncan's older brother, Dylan, muttered from behind her.

"What's going on?" Duncan questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Nothing bad," Dylan re-assured, patting his brother's back as he stepped inside.

"Ma, it's cold, and we can't have the house cold," Duncan said. He was still standing in the doorway being hugged by his Ma.

Suzie immediately let go out of her son and ushered them inside. After shutting the door, she dragged him into the kitchen. "Honey," she whispered, beckoning for him to lean closer. Once he did so, she whispered, "You can't tell Dylan I told you this..."

Duncan slowly nodded. "Okay..."

"Dylan and Brittany are engaged."

Duncan blinked a few times. Brittany was Dylan's girlfriend, and to say he didn't like her was just a bit of an understatement. He really didn't like the woman. She was a bit of an airhead, something Duncan normally didn't mind about some people, but she was also incredibly rude. "Wow," he finally said, nodding impressively.

"I know you're not too fond of her..." his Ma muttered, eyeing him wearily.

He shrugged. "She just really pissed me off that one day. She's not my girlfriend, so... Where's Dad?"

"He went to pick up Danny," his Ma explained. "His car isn't working too well."

Duncan nodded. "Well, let's head out there and pretend we didn't have the first part of the conversation, 'kay?"

"Well, I brought you some stuff, so..." His Ma placed the plastic bag she was holding onto the table. "Just some clothes and such for the little one..."

"You know, we had this thing called a 'baby shower' where people bought us a bunch of stuff to last us the first six to nine months of Annie's life..." Duncan teased. He laughed when his Mom gently smacked his arm. He reached inside the bag and muttered, "Let's see what we have here... Oh, my God." He pulled out a two-piece outfit, the bodysuit was white with pink cherries plastered all over it, and the pants were also pink.

"Isn't that adorable?" his Mom asked, smiling happily.

He nodded, smiling at his Ma. "It's really cute."

"I got you something else."

He reached into the bag and pulled out a fleece onesie that had a bear-like hoodie was had colorful polka dots all over it. He chuckled and said, "Our daughter will be so adorable..." He turned away from his Ma and shouted out, "Court!"

A few seconds later, Courtney walked into the kitchen. "Yeah?"

"Look what Ma got Annie," he said, holding up the two outfits.

Courtney couldn't help but smile at the outfits. They were simply adorable! "Aww," she said, still smiling. She turned to Suzie and said, "Thank you."

"Oh, anything for my first grand-baby..." she muttered.

Duncan raised an eyebrow at his Ma. "'_First_'? You mean '_current_', right?"

"First, current..." His Ma shrugged. She pointed a finger at him and said, "Don't you dare go thinking into that."

"Too late," he said, shrugging.

Mrs. Evans sighed. "I'm going to go say 'hello' to Annie," she said. "Can I put one of the outfits on her?"

Duncan handed her the onesie. "She's in her diaper so it'll be easy." When his Ma left the room, he turned to his wife and said, "Come with me real quick."

"Why?" Courtney quietly asked, following her husband out of the room.

Once they both entered their bedroom, Duncan locked the door. He then walked into the bathroom, beckoning her to follow him in there.

"Why are we in here?" she cautiously asked.

"I'm sure Ma won't mind me telling you... and you'll see why we're in here once I tell you the 'news'. Dylan and Brittany are getting married."

"_What_?" Courtney instantly exclaimed, her eyes widening.

"_Exactly_!" he agreed.

"I thought they broke up when she cheated on him," she softly said, closing their bathroom door.

"I know he felt like it when the whole thing happened, but..." He shrugged. "I guess they made up. And got engaged."

"What if it's a shotgun marriage?" she softly questioned.

His eyes widened. He processed the idea. Yes, their Ma taught them better to jump into a marriage because they got a girl pregnant, but he was the only one that truly listened to her advice. "I... I would hope that wouldn't be the case."

"Honestly, I wouldn't even bring up the idea around Brittany," she muttered, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "She'd probably twist our words around and try to make it seem like we had a shotgun marriage."

"Thank God we didn't," he muttered.

Both sat there in silence for a few moments before Courtney softly spoke up. She asked, "Did we talk about your brothers coming over today?"

Duncan shook his head. "No... Oh, crap."

She nodded, letting out a sigh. "Mom and Dad are coming over tonight."

"They'll be fine... Oh, crap." He immediately ran out of the bathroom and opened the door. He exclaimed, "_MA_!"

"What?" Courtney quickly asked, not understanding why her husband ran out of the room.

"What?" his Ma quietly asked, appearing in front of her son.

Duncan quickly looked around, making sure his older brother wasn't around. "Is Brittany coming over tonight?"

Suzie slowly nodded. "Yes. Dylan has only told me, and he was going to announce it to your Father and brother, and you, tonight."

"Um, Courtney's parents are coming over," Duncan quietly said.

His Ma blinked a few times. She completely forgot about that. "When are they coming over?"

"Babe?" he asked, turning around and looking at his wife.

Courtney held up her finger, for she was on the phone. "I'm really sorry, I thought they remembered..."

"Looks like she's breaking the news right now," he softly said.

"I hope they don't mind too much..." his Mom muttered.

"Everything's okay," Courtney quietly said, appearing beside Duncan. "My Dad's feeling extremely tired tonight, anyway. They want to come over for lunch tomorrow."

Duncan nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"One day, we're all going to be here with Annie," Mrs. Evans said, smiling at the couple. She looked at her son and asked, "You told her, didn't you?"

Duncan nodded, smirking. "I couldn't help myself."

His Mom rolled her eyes. "You never seem to, sweetie. What are you two in the mood for? I can get something picked up or delivered..."

Courtney and Duncan looked at each other, lightly shrugging. "I dunno..." Duncan murmured, looking at his Ma. "Surprise us. But we want something good, and not from the apartment."

Mrs. Evans smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Courtney and Duncan sat on the couch, each looking at different things. Courtney was focused on her daughter, who was being held by her Mother-in-Law. She trusted Mrs. Evans completely with her child, but still wanted to keep that extra eye on her. Duncan was staring at each of his family members, and that one person he never expected to even be considered in their family. He couldn't wait to see his Dad and brother's reactions.

"So, Dad... Danny... Duncan... Courtney... Annie..."

Duncan rolled his eyes. Their Father didn't even respond, he just had a serious look on his face. Everyone else laughed, Brittany's loud, obnoxious laugh leading the rest.

"Oh, sweetie, I want to tell them!" Brittany exclaimed, covering Dylan's hands with hers.

Dylan shrugged, muttering, "Sure..."

"We're getting married!" Brittany exclaimed, giddily smiling at the entire family.

No one said a word. Duncan and Courtney easily faked their way into being surprised. While faking surprise, Duncan noticed that his Dad almost looked angry. Danny looked uncomfortable, but shocked.

"_Cosa e successo a rompere con lei_?" his Dad lowly asked.

"Whoa," Brittany said, her facial expression shocked and confused. Duncan had to bit his lip in order to keep himself from laughing out loud. Even Courtney had to look down and cover her mouth with her hands. Yes, she didn't understand what Mr. Evans had just said, but Brittany's reaction was priceless.

"Dad..." Dylan quietly said.

"Can you, like, repeat that in English?" Brittany asked.

This time, Duncan couldn't keep quiet. He let out a snort, causing Courtney to quickly smack his leg.

Mr. Evans stared back and forth between Brittany and Dylan, as if he were still processing this new information. "Congratulations," he finally said, now just intently staring at Dylan.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Brittany said, smiling broadly "I must say, that's quite a long expression in French..."

"That wasn't French," Courtney interjected, not being able to hold her silence anymore.

"Yes it was!" Brittany said, smiling. "I heard Mr. Evans said '_Bonjourno_' earlier. That's totally French."

"Britt, you know we're Italian," Dylan quietly told her.

Brittany laughed. "Oh, that's right! I'm sorry, Mr. Evans."

The older man shrugged, though he still didn't look pleased. "It's quite a common mistake," he muttered.

"Your baby is just so cute," Brittany said to Courtney and Duncan. "She is so adorable. And so sweet!"

"Thank you," Courtney said, smiling.

"She's so tiny, though," Brittany muttered. "She doesn't look nine months old..."

Courtney's smile instantly dropped. Duncan couldn't hold in any of his laughter anymore - he let it all out. "You... You thought she was nine months old?" he asked, continuing to laugh.

"Well, she looks like she's nine days old..."

"Try another nine," Duncan instructed.

Brittany's confused face returned. "I'm pretty sure she's not nine years old..."

"Try nine weeks," Duncan explained.

"She's so tiny!" Brittany observed. "Can I hold her?"

"Why don't you wash your hands first?" Courtney immediately asked, in fear that Duncan would rudely shout, "NO!" She continued, "She was recently sick, and while I'm sure you're not sick, we need to take those extra precautions..."

"Of course!" Brittany said, smiling. She immediately stood up, bringing Dylan with her. "Let's wash our hands, sweetie. And then we can practice holding a baby!"

"Oh, man..." Duncan murmured, once again biting his lip so he wouldn't make anymore loud outbursts. "Pa_, lo faccia avere_!"

Mr. Evans glared at his son. "_Avete ottenuto la vostra moglie incinta prima di voi due si sono sposati_."

"_Io e lei eravamo gia da tempo impegnati prima_," Duncan said, pointing his finger at his Dad.

"_Non voglio sentire una parola di bocca_," Mr. Evans muttered.

"So, um... That was surprising," Danny muttered.

"_Sono cos avere un matrimonio fucile da caccia_..." Duncan muttered.

"_Duncan_!" Mr. and Mrs. Evans exclaimed, glaring at their son.

"We're back!" Brittany exclaimed as she entered the room. She looked at Duncan and Courtney and held up her hands. "I washed my hands!"

"Congratulations," Duncan quietly asked.

"What was that?" Brittany asked.

"Thank you," Courtney said.

Brittany immediately stepped in front of Mrs. Evans. She bent down and slowly picked up Annie. Courtney and Duncan carefully watched her, each of their expressions fearful.

"Oh, you are so precious..." Brittany muttered, kissing the top of Annie's head.

"She is so getting a bath tonight..." Duncan whispered to Courtney, who shook her head, smirking.

Suddenly, Annie slipped from Brittany's arms slightly. Mrs. Evans' arms immediately shot up, holding the bottom of the baby. Duncan and Courtney's blood each grew cold at that moment.

"_Oh, my God_...!" Courtney murmured, her wide eyes staring at her now-crying child.

"Okay, _no one_ is holding her," Duncan said, immediately standing up. He carefully, but quickly, took Annie out of Brittany's arms.

"Aww, baby must be sleepy..." Brittany said, looking at the child fondly.

"You almost dropped my nine-week-old baby!" Duncan exclaimed. He let out a sigh and exited the room, hoping to calm himself and his baby down away from everyone else.

"She so doesn't look nine weeks old..."

"You are so _dumb_!"

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I am so glad you all are liking the story. Please keep up the reviews! Thanks! **


	12. First Married Anniversary

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

One year. That's how long they had been married.

Four months. That's how old their now-sleeping daughter was.

Ooh, memories of one year ago... She remembered buying rings the day they decided to head down to city hall to tie the knot. It wasn't June 12th like they had originally planned, but that day, April 21st, just seemed like the perfect moment. They didn't need their fancy clothes, they didn't need all the attendees... They just needed each other, and they had that. They didn't do anything the night they got married. Yes, they had tame sex, something Courtney referred to as "lovemaking". That happened later into the night, after they had dinner and just sat around...

It wasn't until the next morning that it hit Courtney. On the day prior, sometime in the afternoon, Courtney Richardson married her teenage sweetheart, Duncan Evans. Instead of becoming Courtney Evans, she remained Courtney Richardson. She knew everyone was expecting her to change her last name, and that's partially why she didn't. She liked her last name, and while Courtney Evans sounded fine, Courtney Richardson sounded better, more sophisticated, more her. Duncan didn't mind - he actually respected that she kept her name. On that morning after they got married, she realized she had to take off her wedding ring. She didn't want to, though. Having that ring on her finger felt so right. She began to cry, much to Duncan's surprise. They talked about it, and they would take off the rings only when going out, when people came over, and when they had to work.

Courtney looked over at her husband, who was still sleeping. It was a little after 7AM, and Annie would be waking up at any moment. She was learning how to sleep during the night, which they were both thankful for. She went to bed around 7PM, woke up around 11PM, went back to bed around 1AM, and woke up around 7AM. She was getting better and better about going to bed quicker after waking up around eleven at night, something else that they were thankful for. They were starting to get their sleeping schedules back to normal, something they thought they started to begin a few weeks before. Unfortunately, Annie began teething at that time, so her painful cries kept them up at times longer than they wanted to be up. She had two bottom teeth poking out of her gums, something her parents both found adorable.

Being married didn't change them much. They had acted like a married couple long before their engagement and marriage, according to many people. They had lived together for years, paid bills together, and had slept together for a long time. Being married wasn't a challenge, and they knew they could do that if they were able to go out for a number of years. Being married just meant they wore a ring on their finger and had to change their marital status to "married". Well, and then there were some tax issues...

Being parents was something that changed them. As much as they loved each other, both tended to be very selfish. Yes, that was a human thing, mostly especially for people without children. Having a child meant they were always thinking about someone else, always caring for someone else. Both were terrified at first, not knowing if they could really even take care of a child. But, surprisingly, both were very natural at taking care of a child. She wasn't surprised that Duncan was a natural - his Mom was one of the most nurturing women Courtney had ever met! Courtney was shocked at how nurturing she was. Maybe it was instinctual, maybe it was her trying to already prove she could be a better parent than either of hers.

"Court...?"

Courtney looked over at her husband, who was blinking to keep himself awake. "Yeah?" she softly asked.

"I'm surprised you're awake..."

"I've been thinking."

"Always thinking..."

"Do you know what today is?"

She was hoping, praying, that he would remember. She wouldn't be shocked or upset if he didn't remember, though. They had a lot going on, and she herself had only remembered a week prior.

"Uh-huh," he muttered, looking up at her. "It's the twenty-first. Do _you_ remember what today is?"

She nodded, smiling at him. "Happy anniversary."

He beamed, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her close to him. "I love you," he muttered into her side.

She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on top of his. "I love you," she softly said.

"So what are we gonna do today?" he asked, softly stroking her side.

She shrugged, gently rubbing his back. "I don't know... Um... I don't think we really can do anything. Nobody knows we got married on this day last year. They all think we got married on the twelfth of June."

He slowly nodded. "We can still do something. All we have to do is convince someone we want the night alone and they will watch Annie."

She nodded. She let out a sigh and shrugged. "Dinner out would be nice."

"Well, you pick out the place for dinner. I've already picked out a place for lunch."

She slid down more onto the bed so she could face her husband clearly. "Where are we going to lunch?" she quietly asked.

He smiled, reaching forward and softly bopping her nose with his finger. "I planned a picnic at the park."

She gaped at him. She was shocked, speechless, but utterly amazed. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Remember when we went to the park a couple of weeks ago?" When she nodded, he continued, "Well, I saw all these couples having picnic's and such... And then I was looking up anniversary gifts, and a picnic was one of them."

She was happily smiling at her husband. She leaned forward and passionately kissed him on the lips, her hands covering his cheeks. He chuckled against her kiss, but kissed her in return.

"So..." he murmured, breaking their kiss. "What's my gift?"

She smiled at him, reaching forward and also bopping his nose with her finger. "Well... You've got a few gifts laying around."

His eyes widened as a smirk grew on his face. "Laying around? A few gifts? Oh, somebody also looked on the internet for ideas..."

"We need to call somebody about watching Annie until tomorrow," Courtney said, turning onto her back to lay on it but turning her head to continue looking at her husband.

Duncan shrugged, slowly pulling himself up. He groaned softly and muttered, "Damn you, woman..."

"What?" she teased. She propped her elbow up and rested her head on her hand. She smirked at him and asked, "Couldn't keep up with me last night?"

"I never, ever, do that stuff," he pointedly told her.

"Well, your back was hurting, so I showed you some basic stretches," she told him, poking his chest lightly. "It's not my fault you're not completely in shape."

"I wasn't saying that," he muttered. "You could have shown me some easier stuff, though."

She rolled her eyes. She pulled herself up and rested her head on his shoulder. "Should I call my parents?"

"We'll just call Brittany and Dylan..." He laughed when she smacked his chest. "What? Their on-again, off-again engagement and her still possible pregnancy isn't reason enough to let them watch our daughter overnight?"

"I trust your brother," Courtney explained. "But I have no reason to trust Brittany, not after her almost dropping our daughter over two months ago."

"While that sounds like you are a grudge-holder, I agree," he said. "Maybe Danny could do it..."

"Danny's still in college," she muttered. She let out a laugh before asking, "How did I remember that?"

"Because I keep forgetting he's not on Spring Break," he muttered. "Um... Do your parents think they'll be up for it? Well... Today's Friday, so..."

"I'll ask Bridgette if she'll watch her today, and ask my parents if they'll watch her tonight," Courtney softly said.

"What if my parents want to watch her...?" he teasingly asked.

"Okay, fine," she muttered, smirking. "She can ride around in the back of a police car all day. Then, when a criminal gets into a car, they could do something to her. Sounds like a perfect day."

"I think Ma's off today," he told her, smirking. "And I wouldn't want Bridgette watching her. Isabelle had the cold last week."

Courtney sighed and muttered, "I forgot about that... Okay. I'll call my Mom, you call yours."

"Deal."

"I need to check on Annie, though," she quickly said. She tried getting up, but Duncan grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. "What?" she asked, turning to him.

"Just let her stay in the crib," he softly said, smiling at her. "It's possible she's fascinated with her hands and or feet again."

Courtney remained hesitant for a few moments. True, their daughter had been fascinated with hands and feet for the past few days. Courtney was very surprised when her daughter let out a squeal of excitement over her hand. It was as if she had just discovered it! It was cute to watch Annie coo and sigh happily whilst in her own little world. Courtney sat back down on the bed and muttered, "You're right."

"Plus, we've got the baby monitor right here," Duncan said, reaching over onto the bedside table and holding up the device. Right then, they heard a sneeze come through the device. He smirked and muttered, "Well, maybe we should clean her up... No, I'll clean her up. You call your Mom."

"What about you?" she asked, watching him get out of bed.

He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and said, "I'll clean up Annie and call Ma while feeding her. Sound good?"

She nodded before quickly exclaiming, "No!"

He stopped in his tracks. "What?" he asked, turning around.

Courtney stood up. "I'll clean up Annie. You go to the bathroom."

He furrowed his eyebrows before the realization hit him. "Aah... Gotcha."

She stared at him with a deadpanned expression. "What do you think I'm talking about?"

"I actually have no idea," he sheepishly muttered.

"Think about to what I said a few minutes ago..." When he just blinked at her, she continued, "It's our anniversary..."

"Oh, yeah! Lots of presents... Ooh, there's one in the bathroom?"

She rolled her eyes as she walked past him. "That's for you to figure out, and for me to know."

He smirked at her. He sprinted to the bathroom as soon as she was far enough from their room. The letter was right there behind the sink. The envelope said "Duncan" with a heart next to his name. He smiled, picking up the letter. It wasn't sealed, so he pulled back the opening and pulled out the letter. He smiled at the letter, which read:

_Good-morning, sweetheart!_

_Can you believe it? We got married one year ago! I'm hoping that I'll be out of the room and awake by the time you read this, but I want you to know that I'll be cooking you breakfast this morning! I'll make you anything you want. Well, considering Annie won't be too fussy. Even then, it shouldn't be too hard to fix you up something!_

_Also, with these letters I have scattered around the apartment, I'll be including other letters I've written over the past year. All of these are just tokens of appreciation and show how much I really care about you._

_Of course, I love you, too!_

He laughed before looking at the second piece of paper, which read:

_Duncan,_

_Last night, we got married._

_Married!_

_It's still so surreal to think that we're married. This time last year, I was finishing up school, and we were talking about moving into a new apartment. There was no discussion of marriage. We thought, "We don't need to get married!" We still don't need to get married, but we did. We're so spontaneous that we decided to go against our own anniversary and marry before then!_

_I'm watching you sleep right now. It's Saturday morning, and neither of us have to work. I think we discussed going to breakfast, but who knows what's in store for today._

_Okay, now you're waking up. I think you've been awake for a while because of the way you're acting. Wrapping your arms around me, trying to lift up my shirt and planting kisses on my side..._

_It's a good thing I'm up for some sex this morning!_

_I love you!_

_Love,_  
_Courtney_

He chuckled, remembering that memory quite well. Indeed, he was awake for a while, and knew she was writing something, but didn't know what until that moment. Morning sex wasn't necessarily something they did often, and was surprised she was so up to it that morning.

He placed the letters back into the envelope. He placed the envelope back onto the dresser before walking out of the room and into the living room. He saw Courtney half-sitting, half-laying on the couch. Annie was in her arms, drinking out of a bottle. Courtney looked up, and her and Duncan locked eyes. He walked over to her and planted a gentle, yet passionate, kiss on her lips. She softly returned the kiss, her lips lingering on his for a few seconds.

"Thank you," he softly said after they broke apart.

She softly nodded, smiling. "You're welcome, sweetheart."

He chuckled at their daughter, who was staring at them curiously. "Good morning, little missy! Did Mommy find you playing with yourself?"

"Real smooth," Courtney muttered, rolling her eyes. She then explained, "Annie was waking up when I walked into her room."

Duncan smiled and kissed his daughter's forehead. He sat down on the ground next to the couch and said, "You know what I want for brekkie?"

"Hmm?" she asked, smiling.

He chuckled before saying, "Cereal."

Courtney gasped at her husband. "Are you serious?"

Duncan nodded, continuing to laugh. "I am! I just want some Trix."

She rolled her eyes. "You are one big ol' trick..." She sighed before regretfully looking at her daughter. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, baby." She slowly took the bottle out of Annie's mouth, much to the baby's dismay. Annie started to whine as she was switched from Courtney's to Duncan's arms.

Duncan placed the bottle back in Annie's mouth. He looked at Courtney, smiling. "Were you expecting to cook me a full breakfast?"

Courtney nodded, sheepishly smiling. "I was," she softly admitted. "I really thought you were going to ask for all of this stuff, so I stocked up."

He laughed, smiling fondly at her. "Well, I'm sorry for crushing your hopes."

She smiled, shrugging. "I was upset for a second, but you know, making a bowl of cereal is a lot easier to make than eggs, bacon, sausage..."

"Well..." He laughed when jumped off the couch.

"Nope! Can't change your mind!" she said, sprinting into the kitchen.

He chuckled, looking at his daughter. He ran his finger over her face, her cheeks, her nose. "Me and Mommy got married one year ago," he softly explained. "Mommy and Daddy didn't plan on getting married that day... We were gonna do that on our other anniversary, in June."

"What day?" Courtney called from this kitchen.

Duncan smirked. "I dunno..." He laughed when he saw her glaring at him from the kitchen. "The twelfth, darling."

"Damn right," Courtney muttered, popping back into the kitchen.

"Daddy could never forget that day," he softly told Annie, who was finished with her feeding and was curiously staring at her Father. "Mmhmm. Well, the day Daddy asked Mommy to go out... Or, rather, the one where she finally accepted. I wanted to kiss Mommy that day, but-"

"I don't kiss before the first date," Courtney finished for him as she walked into the living room. She sat down on the floor next to her husband and placed the bowl of cereal next to him.

Duncan smirked. "So if I take you on a date, then I can kiss you?"

She coyly shrugged, winking at him. "We'll see."

He laughed, carefully placing Annie on the floor. Their blanket was beside and between them. He grabbed his bowl of cereal. "You didn't kiss until after the first date... After you puked your guts out."

She nodded, smiling. "That is true. Us raiding Chef's fridge, taking all those sweets and eating them..."

"Getting my kiss..." He winked at her, continuing to eat his cereal.

She nodded, continuing to softly smile. She then grabbed her phone from the couch and dialed her Mom's number. "Hey, Mom," she said when her Mom picked up.

"_Good-morning, darling_."

"Um, I have a favor to ask..."

"_Yes_?"

"I, um... Duncan and I were wondering if you would like to watch Annie tonight? Duncan has today and tomorrow off. It's rare for him to have a day off, and it's rarer for us to spend some alone time together..."

"_I would be delighted to watch Annaleigh tonight_."

Courtney smiled happily, and she just as happily asked, "Really?"

"_Of course! Your Father's been feeling well for the past few days, and it has been a week or so since we've seen her_..."

"Well, Duncan's Mom will be watching her during the daytime, since you're working..."

"_Well, actually, I have the afternoon off_."

Courtney slowly nodded, frowning slightly at Duncan, who was teasing his daughter with his cereal. "Sounds like a plan," she said, masking her sorrow. She wasn't sure why she was so upset that her parents would be watching Annie. In the back of her head, she really wanted both sets of parents to meet up at some point.

"_I have been meaning to see Mrs. Evans... Maybe her and her husband can come over for dinner tonight_?"

Courtney was shocked by the plan. She was willing to meet up with her siblings-in-law? "Okay," she said. "So, um, what time can you get Annie?"

* * *

"Bye, my sweet baby!" Courtney cooed, bending down and peeking her head into the backseat of her Mom's car. "Be good for Grandma and Grandpa!"

"Baa..." Annie cooed, smiling happily at her Mom.

"Baa..." Courtney cooed in return, waving softly at her daughter.

"Courtney," her Mom said, turning around and smiling softly at her daughter. "She'll be fine. You'll be fine."

"I know," Courtney sighed, softly smiling at her Mom. "It's hard letting her go, even if it's just overnight."

"Again, you'll be fine," her Mom said, continuing to smile at her daughter.

Courtney nodded, returning her attention to her daughter. "Have fun, sweetie," she quietly said. Suddenly, Annie's repetitive, high-pitched babbles filled the car. It was something she was doing for a couple of days, and Courtney and Duncan were fascinated by all the babbling she was suddenly doing. Courtney softly laughed, reaching forward and grabbing her daughters hand. "Ah-ba-da-ba!" she quickly said, her voice slightly deeper.

Annie giggled, her wide grin flashing her two tiny bottom teeth.

Courtney's Mom gasped, turning around. "Look at those teeth!" she happily said.

Annie let out a couple of laughs, smiling at her Grandma.

"Bye, baby," Courtney softly said, causing Annie to look up at her. "I love you."

Annie let out a contented sigh, softly smiling at her Mom. Courtney blinked away the tears and stepped away from the car. She watched her Mom drive away from the apartment complex. She felt a few tears slip down her cheeks as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

"Why are you crying?" Duncan softly asked, kissing her cheek.

She smiled. "I don't know. There's a lot going on today, that's all."

He nodded. "So... You ready to go?"

She smiled at him, nodding. She turned around and softly kissed him on the lips. "Let's go. I'm starving."

As they got into the car, Duncan found another letter on the dashboard. He smirked, grabbing the letter. Right as he was about to open it, Courtney quickly said, "No!"

"What?" he asked, looking over at her.

"I, um... Don't read those around me." She bashfully smiled at him. "They're meant for you, and for you to read them in private..."

He nodded, smirking. "This one must be a sex-letter."

"Yep," she muttered, smirking as she leaned back in her seat. "I've detailed how our sex will be for the next week, with all the positions written out... Well, I drew some..."

"No you didn't..." Duncan teased, though he was getting turned on just by the thought.

"I know." She rolled her eyes. "It was worth a shot."

It only took them a few minutes to get to the park, and they were both glad to see that no one was really around. Courtney's phone began to ring as they stepped out. She checked the I.D. and saw that it was her best friend. "It's Bridge," she softly said.

"Well, you step out while I read the letter, okay?" He got back into the car and tore open the letter.

_Dear Duncan,_

_Our baby is four months old today. Can you believe it? Four months ago, I gave birth to our baby daughter. I know I will never forget that day._

_You're at work right now, and Annie is on the floor. She's quietly humming to hersef. Her voice is so melodic and angelic. I'm looking at Annie, and I can't help but think about the future. I know diseases and sickness are a part of life, but I hope that neither of us die prematurely. I honestly could not handle losing you, and I hope you feel the same way. I thought I couldn't handle it two years ago, before we got engaged. Same when we were engaged. Now that we have a daughter..._

_Annie's looking at me now. I think she senses that I'm upset. She's such an intelligent child. I hope she picks up more of your personality. Well, while I hope she has your personality, I hope that she doesn't get into too much trouble. I work too much, and my anger gets in the way at times. I hope she doesn't pick up that._

_Oh, Annie's calling for me. She keeps going, "Aah! Aah!" Maybe that's a sign I need to stop writing this letter._

_I love you!_

_Love,_  
_Courtney_

Duncan smiled, holding the letter close to him. There wasn't a letter attached, unfortunately, but there was a picture. It was of him and Annie the day after she was born. He was looking down at her, holding her very close to him. He was smiling fondly and affectionately at his newborn daughter.

A knocking at the window brought him out of his trance. He looked over and saw Courtney smiling at him. "You ready?" she asked.

* * *

Their lunch included sandwiches, chips, fruits, and even a piece of cake. They took their time eating, and even fed each other. They also threw a few pieces of food at each other, much to their enjoyment. After cleaning up, they laid down on their blanket, resting side-by-side and staring at the sky.

"I've got a bit of a surprise for you," Duncan softly said, stroking her back.

"What's that?" Courtney softly asked.

"Don't get too freaked out, because it's only an idea..."

She looked up at him and quietly said, "One child is plenty for us."

He chuckled, running his hand through her hair. "I agree. But, uh... I was looking at houses the other day."

"Houses?"

"You know, those places that aren't apartments or farmhouses..."

She smacked his chest, and he laughed. She sat up slightly, resting her arms on his chest. "Have you, like, gone to any houses, or what?"

"I mean, I've driven by some when I go out, but otherwise, I've just looked at a few online," he explained, grabbing her hands and intertwining her fingers with his. "Like I said, it's just an idea-"

"A good idea," she softly said, squeezing his hands. "Our apartment's getting cramped, and it's only getting more and more cramped as Annie gets older."

He nodded. "That is true. Maybe we should think about moving soon?"

She shrugged, "Either we move before I go back to work, or we wait until after I start back up again."

"You start back in one month from Monday..." he muttered. "Do you think we could move in thirty-ish days?"

She nodded. "We need to set up a time-line. We need to decide on a place in either ten days or two weeks. Once we find a place, we'll buy it, or set up rent, and then we can move in after that. Until then... We can slowly start packing, I guess."

He nodded. He smiled at her and said, "We're movin' on up, Princess."

She smiled and said, "That we are, Ogre. That we are."

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! Please, please keep them up! It took me a bit longer to write this one... I have an idea. How do you all feel about "bonus" chapters? As in, chapters that took place before the current timeline, but within the timeline of the story? I do have a few ideas that take place earlier but didn't think of at the time, haha. Anyways, I'll try to update this ASAP! I hope you all enjoyed this!**


	13. Moving

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Whoa, writer's block. And in-real-life frustrations. Sorry about the delay on this chapter! Thank you all for the reviews. They do mean a lot! Enjoy!**

"_Bambina_..."

Annie looked over at Duncan, a curious expression on her face. He smiled at his daughter, and she heartily returned the smile. He told her, "_Mamma dovrebbe essere presto a casa_..."

Annie let out a soft cooing noise. She looked around, and suddenly let out a squeal of excitement. Katie suddenly trotted over to the two of them. She sat down in between Duncan and Annie, who was sitting up and smiling happily at the canine creature.

"_I cani_..." Duncan said, pointing to Katie. "_Bau bau_!"

Annie giggled, still smiling happily at Katie. Katie barked, causing Annie to jump slightly. She then let out another laugh and smiled goofily at the dog.

"Hey, Katie," Duncan said. When the dog looked at him, he asked, "Where's Mommy?"

Katie stood up and ran over to the door. She let out a bark and stood up, scratching the door.

"Katie!" Duncan exclaimed. "Stop that!"

Suddenly, the door opened, and Courtney peeked through the door. "What were you doing?" she asked, smiling at their dog, who barked upon her return. "Get back," Courtney softly said, opening the door. Once she was in, she shut the door before bending down and petting the dog, who was happily wagging her tail.

"Hey, babe," Duncan said, remaining on the ground next to his daughter, who was craning her head around. He quietly said to his daughter, "_Bambina_..."

"Hey, sweetie," Courtney said, walking over to where her husband and daughter where. She sat down next to her husband and gave him a quick kiss. As she took off her shoes, she asked, "How was your day?"

"Good," he said, wrapping an arm around her. "I continued speaking in Italian to Annie..."

"That's good," she said, smiling at her husband. She looked at her daughter and exaggerated a gasp. "My baby!" she exclaimed, causing another squeal to emerge from her daughter's mouth. "Did Daddy speak in Italian to you today?"

"Aahh?" Annie asked, tilting her head slightly at Courtney.

The older woman smiled, reaching forward and bopping her daughter's nose with her finger. "You are too adorable," she softly said. Annie let out another giggle, blowing a few raspberries in her Mom's direction. Courtney smiled at her daughter and leaned forward. As she planted kisses all over her daughter's face, she said, "Mommy couldn't stop thinking about Annie today..."

"I don't know why you felt the need to say 'good-bye' to her..." Duncan murmured.

Courtney let out a sigh. She gently picked up Annie and slowly moved back. She sat back down next to Duncan, holding Annie against her chest. She softly said, "I don't know, either. Was she unable to go back to sleep?"

He nodded. "Yeah. She was crankier earlier, too."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder.

"It's okay," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. "She kept babbling the same syllable today... Annie..." When his daughter looked up at him, he said to her, "Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!"

Annie beamed before mimicking, "Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta..."

Courtney giggled, kissing the top of her daughter's head. "Ta-ta-ta, eh?"

"She's avoiding 'ma-ma' and 'da-da'..." Duncan muttered, smirking at his daughter. "She's gonna say 'da-da' first."

"Oh, hush," Courtney muttered, smacking her husband's leg. She then brought her knees closer to her and placed Annie on them, so their daughter was looking up at them. The older woman let out a small sigh, watching her daughter grab onto her fingers. "We're moving tomorrow," she softly said.

"Mmhmm..." Duncan muttered, grabbing his phone out of his pocket. "And I still haven't told Ma..."

Courtney shut her eyes, though an amused smile laid on her face. She herself had told her parents only a few days prior, and thought her husband had told his parents that same day. She asked her husband, "Really?"

"Uh-uh," he muttered.

"Uh...uh."

Courtney opened her eyes and inquisitively stared at her daughter, who just imitated her Dad. "'Uh-uh'? What are you talking about, baby?"

Annie smiled softly and let out a coo. Everything Annie did made Courtney's heart flutter, especially the noises she would make, from babbling too cooing to humming... Her passing gas made Duncan really laugh out loud, while Courtney occasionally laughed. At least Annie was letting it all out as opposed to keeping it in.

"Hey, Ma."

"_Hello sweetie_!"

Courtney turned towards her husband, questioning his decision to put his phone call on speakerphone. Even their daughter was curiously staring between her Dad and his phone.

"Say 'hello' to Annie," Duncan said to the phone.

"_What? Why_?"

"You're on speakerphone!"

"_Oohh... Hello, Anni_e!"

Annie instantly cooed loudly, an incredibly happy smile on her face. Courtney and Duncan stared in disbelief at their daughter, who seemed at her happiest right then. At least, her happiest during that day.

"Okay, you're off speakerphone," Duncan muttered. "I'm jealous of the smile my daughter just gave you."

Courtney smiled, rolling her eyes. She looked down at Annie, who was still goofily smiling at Duncan. "Are you that excited to hear Grammy's voice?" Courtney quietly asked, leaning forward and kissing her daughter's forehead. She then placed her baby against her chest before slowly standing up, securely holding her daughter. "Mommy's back really hurts," she quietly told her daughter as she walked out of the room. She walked into her bedroom and placed Annie stomach-down on the bed before laying down on her back.

Courtney looked over at Annie, who had rolled onto her back and was looking up at the ceiling. "_Ma bebe_," she softly said.

Annie quickly turned her head. She instantly grinned and said, "Ma ma... Ma... Ma-ma-ma!"

Courtney couldn't help but beam. Annie was probably just babbling more things at this point, but that first "ma ma" really pulled at her heartstrings. "Mommy won," she softly said.

"Mommy didn't win shit."

"Mommy so did win," Courtney said, turning and grinning at her husband. "She got the baby to say 'ma ma' first."

"Oh, she's just muttering nonsense," Duncan said, smirking at his wife while referring to their daughter. "She doesn't know what she's saying."

"Hey," she said, pointing a finger at him. "Babies do know what they're talking about, that's why we have to just say whatever back to them."

He rolled his eyes and walked over to the bed. He plopped down next to, and behind, his wife, wrapping his arm around her waist. "So Ma said she'll be over bright and early with my brothers and Pa tomorrow."

She nodded. "Mom said she'll be here early to pick up Annie." She reached over and grabbed her daughter before turning onto her back. She placed Annie on her stomach, but her daughter started whining slightly. As the baby tried wiggling out of her arms, she asked, "What is wrong, baby?"

Duncan reached over and grabbed Annie and placed her on his stomach. He let out a sigh as she tried wriggling out of his grasp. He let go of his daughter and muttered, "Let's see what she does..."

Annie tried reaching the pillow, letting out a few grunts and sighs. Before she could fall forward, Duncan placed her onto the bed in front of the pillows.

"Is that what you wanted?" he quietly asked.

"She is so..."

"Special."

* * *

Suzie began to blow raspberries in her granddaughter's face, prompting the baby to return the action. The older woman laughed and said, "Oh, baby, you sound like you're farting from the mouth..."

Courtney bit her lip, half-amused and half-shocked. Duncan let out a boisterous laugh and said, "Damn, Ma!"

"What?" Mrs. Evans asked, smiling at her son. "She's so loud..."

"You know she gets louder," Duncan pointed out, smirking.

Suzie rolled her eyes, returning the smirk. "I do."

"Mom, why'd you say that?" Danny embarrassingly muttered from the couch.

"Darling, there hasn't been a baby in the family in a long time," Suzie explained. "Fourteen years, in fact. Not since Jimmy was born. So, excuse me for getting all excited about Annie and the things she does!"

"You're excused," Duncan said, smirking at his Ma.

His Ma glared at him slightly. "Thank you," she sarcastically said.

"Grammy should not be using that tone around Annie," Duncan seriously, and mockingly, said while pointing at his Ma. "We don't want her first word being a negative one, like 'N-O'-"

"'No'?" Danny asked.

"N- shit - CRAP! _Don't_ say that!" Duncan said to his brother.

"Duncan!" his Ma snapped.

"Why are you not teaching your daughter to say that?" Danny asked, curiously staring at her brother.

"Children pick up that word easily," Courtney explained. "At least, from what I've seen in my family. Once they really learn it... No, no, no."

Duncan rolled his eyes. "Great job at saying that three times, babe."

Courtney blinked a few times before sighing. "Crap," she muttered.

"She's going to pick it up eventually," Suzie said, sympathetically smiling at the married couple. "But, that's very... That's very kind of the two of you to try and keep that word out of her mouth. You two are right - children do say that a lot. Unless that's her first word for a long time, I don't think you two have too much to worry about."

"She said 'ma ma' last night," Courtney pointed out, which made Duncan roll his eyes.

Suzie gasped at her granddaughter. "Did you really?" she asked the young girl.

Annie started making a noises, ending her little babbling session with, "Ma ma... Ma ma ma ma ma!"

"See?" Duncan pointed out, exasperated. "She's just talking nonsense!"

"It's not nonsense," Suzie softly said, eying her son carefully. "But, let's see what she says..." She smiled at her granddaughter and asked, "Who's your Mama? Huh? Mama...?"

Annie stared up at her Grandmother, her wide eyes curiously looking up at the older woman. "Mama?"

Duncan snorted. "That's your Grand-mama, baby."

"Grammy," Suzie drawled out. "Grammy... Not Grandma, not Grandmomma... Grammy..."

"Hello?"

Everyone turned to the doorway and saw Mrs. Richardson standing there.

"Hey, Mom," Courtney said, smiling at her Mom.

"Good morning," her Mom replied. She looked at Annie and happily smiled. "Good morning, my darling!" When Annie gave her Grandma a huge smile, she said, "Oh, my! You've got two more teeth!"

"I know!" Suzie happily said, smiling at the other woman. "Isn't it just precious?"

"Oh, boy," Duncan muttered, amused. He wrapped an arm around Courtney's shoulder. He quietly asked, "We have everything packed, right?"

Courtney smiled at her husband. "Yes. We finished last night so we wouldn't have to pack today."

* * *

It took everyone a long time, most of the day, in fact, but they finally got all their belongings to the new home in Northern Toronto.

Courtney and Duncan's house was two-stories tall and had a brick exterior. There were two staircases that lead upstairs - one in the foyer, one in between the kitchen and the living room. There was also a staircase leading downstairs, but there was only the basement down there. All the walls were an off-white color, and the floor was around the same color and was both tiled and carpeted.

Duncan and Courtney stood outside their home, staring up at it. Both were almost speechless. They finally had all their belongings in their home. Yes, everything was still packed up, but that didn't matter. They were homeowners! No more apartments, duplexes, condo's... They had a place, with a yard, all to themselves.

"Oh, my God..." Duncan happily murmured, wrapping his arms around Courtney.

"I know," Courtney quietly agreed, holding onto his arms. She looked up at him. "We did it."

He leaned down and quickly kissed her. "We so did," he said, grinning. "We are, like... So grown up, babe. We've got a kid, a dog, and a house. And two cars."

"Who would've thought?" she teasingly murmured.

He chuckled. "You know I didn't want to stay in an apartment forever. But... Gosh. We beat the odds."

"Yep," she said, nodding.

"Duncan!"

Duncan turned around and saw his Mom walking towards him. "Yeah?" he asked.

"What's your address again?" Suzie asked. "I should have asked you that earlier, but we were following you, so..."

"267 Princess Avenue," Duncan told her.

She stopped writing, tapping her pen against the paper. She asked, "Are you serious?"

"I didn't do this on purpose," he said, rolling his eyes. He knew she was talking about Courtney's nickname. He really didn't think about it when he first saw the listing. It wasn't until Courtney brought it up that he fully realized what the street name was.

"So when is your Mom bringing over Annie?" Suzie asked Courtney.

Courtney pursed her lips. "Well, I just talked to her, and they're at the park right now. Um... I'm not sure when she's bringing Annie over. I know she said after they get back from the park."

"Annie's gonna fall asleep on the way here," Duncan muttered.

Courtney sighed, nodding in agreement. "That she will," she murmured. "And she'll wake up earlier tomorrow..."

"Does she still wake around eleven or midnight?" Suzie asked, referring to a time when Annie only woke up once during the middle of the night.

Courtney shook her head. "Not so much anymore. She normally goes to bed around ten or eleven, and then she wakes up between seven and eight."

Mrs. Evans looked surprised. "That's really good," she told them. "I'm glad you two have her trained to sleep during the night. But, why do you think she's going to fall asleep before she gets here? It's only almost eight..."

"Parks and car rides make her sleepy," Duncan said. "She gets over-excited at parks, and car rides seem to help her pass out."

Suzie nodded in understanding. "Of course. Are you two hungry at all? I'm a bit hungry myself, so I'm going to send your Father out to get something..."

"Whatever's fine," Duncan said, shrugging.

Courtney nodded in agreement. "Thank you for asking."

Suzie let out a laugh, walking past the couple. "I am still amazed at how polite you are..."

Courtney bashfully smiled, leaning more into her husband.

He softly smiled, kissing the top of her head before slowly leading her to the house. "Come on. I bet Katie's running around the backyard like crazy."

"I'm glad we finally have a yard," she softly said, walking alongside her husband. "Mostly for Katie and Annie."

"What, you don't want to have this huge garden?" he teased.

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Not particularly," she admitted.

"Really?" he asked, surprised.

"Honey, when do we ever have plants anywhere around the house?" she asked, looking up at him. "We've got a fake tree, for crying out loud."

"Well, I thought that most women always wanted a garden of some sort," he explained. "Most women I know have one."

"'Most women'?" she questioned.

"Family members, darling. And Michelle. Don't Bridgette and Geoff have a garden, too?"

"A small one."

"See?"

She sighed. "Do you want a garden?"

"Nope."

After stepping outside, they both sat down on the steps that led down to the yard. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulder, she had her head resting on his shoulder.

"I love you," she softly told him.

"I love you," he just as softly said.

"Are we going to live here forever?" she asked, looking up at him.

He nodded. "I hope so. This isn't a cheap house. Plus, it's kinda big in case we ever want to expand our current family..."

She smiled, snuggling her head against his shoulder. "We'll see."


	14. New Expressions

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

Unpacking while watching a seven-month-old baby was really hard.

Duncan and Courtney had seen it on television before. It was hard to move with a baby. True, most of the ones they had seen were multiple babies and were over a year old, but still - babies are babies, and babies have to always be watched. Annie usually didn't mind being carried around the house while they slowly moved around their things, it seemed like. Of course, there were moments where she wanted to sit down and have her parents amuse her. They didn't mind doing that, though.

Even though it had been happening since birth, Annie was continuously surprising them. She was now "creeping" along the floor, meaning she was dragging herself along by using her knees and elbows to drag herself everywhere. She could stand up very well and, while she could stand up well on her own, decided to hold onto furniture for extra support.

During that day, they were baby-proofing their kitchen. They had other parts of the house baby-proofed, and were stumped when thinking about why they didn't baby-proof the room earlier. Since Isabelle was much older than Annie, they invited Bridgette and Isabelle over to help testing the cabinets and such. At that moment, Courtney was sitting on the kitchen floor, Annie standing in front of her. Both were watching Duncan, who was also sitting on the floor, screwing on the necessities for the baby-proofing of the cabinets.

"I'm going to laugh if Isabelle is able to pull that thing right open," Courtney told her husband.

Duncan rolled his eyes, shutting the cabinet door and patting it. "So will I, but I think I did the trick." He smiled at his daughter and asked, "You wanna try it out?"

"She won't be able to pull it," Courtney muttered, watching Duncan pick up their daughter and place her in front of the cabinet.

"See?" he asked his daughter, ignoring Courtney. He pulled open the cabinet and said, "Just like this."

Annie just stared up at him, blinking her eyes.

Duncan smiled, amused. He grabbed her hand and tried to make her wrap it around the handle, but she instantly began to whine. He immediately stopped, letting out a sigh. He smirked at his wife and said, "You're right."

Courtney also smirked. "I know."

Suddenly, a knock at the door was heard. As Courtney began to stand up, Annie held up her arms, signaling to be held. Courtney cautiously stared at Annie before looking at Duncan. She wanted to pick up her daughter and carry her everywhere, but separation was a good thing, especially in the house. Duncan mouthed to her, 'Keep her here'. Courtney nodded and smiled gently at her daughter. "I'll be right back, okay? There's someone at the door." She sighed as she turned around and walked out of the room, instantly hearing her daughter's protests. She could faintly hear Duncan talking to her as she approached the front door.

"Hey!" she said, smiling at her best friend as she opened the door.

"Your house is so nice!" Bridgette exclaimed, smiling as she walked inside. "Wow... Oh, my God. You two are so lucky." She sent an apologetic glance to her friend as she said, "Sorry we couldn't visit sooner."

Courtney shrugged, continuing to smile. "It's okay. You were visiting family." She smiled at Isabelle and said, "You've grown up so much since I last saw you!"

Isabelle smiled happily at Courtney and said, "Hi!"

"Aww," Courtney gushed, smiling at Bridgette.

"Being a Mommy has changed you," Bridgette said, smiling fondly at her friend.

Courtney shrugged, still smiling. "I know."

"Where's Duncan?"

"Consoling our daughter," Courtney said, sighing. "She hates it when I leave the room."

"I bet," Bridgette said, smiling sympathetically. "Isabelle sometimes still gets a little bit moody when I leave the room, but otherwise she's fine... Yep, I said your name." Bridgette kissed her daughter's forehead before setting her down.

"I'd keep a close eye on her," Courtney explained. "Our house isn't completely baby-proofed yet."

"You have the stairs and plugs covered, right? And most things away from the edges of the counter-tops?" When Courtney nodded, Bridgette said, "Then she should be fine. I'll keep an extra eye on her, though."

"Mama!" Isabelle exclaimed, standing next to the kitchen door and pointing towards the room.

As Courtney and Bridgette stepped closer, they could hear Duncan said, "Well, look, there's Isabelle... You remember her... And it's Aunt Bridgette... And Mama!"

"_MAMA_!" Annie instantly exclaimed.

Courtney frowned at her daughter's appearance. Her chest was heaving up and down from being so upset. Her wide eyes were still scared and fearful. She had tear-stains on her cheeks, a few tears lingering next to her quivering mouth. She smiled at her daughter and walked over to her. She bent down and hugged her daughter, bringing her close to her. "See, Annie?" she softly asked. "I told you I would be right back, and here I am..." She looked up at Duncan and quietly said, "Thank you."

Duncan shrugged, smiling at her. "No problem," he quietly said. He looked up at Bridgette and said, "What's up, Malibu?"

"Nothing much, Courtney's husband." When both Duncan and Courtney stared at her curiously, she said, "I still can't think of a nickname for you. And I'm not about to steal any of the one's Courtney has used."

"My Ma calls me 'delinquent'," he explained, shrugging.

"I still feel like that's Courtney's thing," Bridgette explained, also shrugging. "So... You need my daughter to test out some things?"

"I saw it on TV once, and I figured Isabelle is the same age, so she'd be perfect in helping out," Duncan explained.

Bridgette nodded, slowly sitting on the ground. "Hey, Isabelle?" When her daughter trotted over to her, she asked, "Will you help Uncle Duncan?"

Isabelle eagerly nodded. "Yes!"

"Alrighty," Duncan said, grinning as Isabelle walked over to him. "So, Isabelle..." He opened the cabinet before shutting it. "Will you do the same thing I just did?"

Courtney continued holding her daughter. The way Annie presented herself when she walked into the room made her heart melt. Leaving the room really was different than going to work in the morning. In the morning, Annie didn't see Courtney leave. There were no tearful good-bye's. Plus, she had said (or rather screamed) her first word - "mama". Maybe she had uttered it while she was out of the room, and that's why Duncan didn't say anything. She didn't fully comprehend that her daughter said that until moments later. She lowered her head and gave her daughter a kiss. "Everything's okay," she softly said.

What surprised her was that Annie leaned forward and proceeded to return the kiss. Of course, this kiss was very sloppy and was open-mouthed, but still. She was doing two new things in one day!

"Why, thank you!" Courtney said, smiling happily.

"That was so cute!" Bridgette said.

"What?" Duncan asked, looking up.

"She just gave me a kiss," Courtney said, smiling.

Duncan grinned, reaching forward and patting his daughter's back. "Baby says 'mama' and gives Mama a kiss. Well, then."

Courtney apologetically smiled at her husband. "Sorry, sweetie."

Duncan shrugged, still grinning. "It's cool."

"Your baby is growing up!" Bridgette happily said, smiling. "How sweet... Baby's first words and kisses..."

Isabelle just angrily stood there. She had tried to open the cabinet door, and couldn't. While that upset her for a second, something else upset her even more. No one was paying attention to her! As she looked around, she saw that everyone was focusing on Annie. She stomped over to the other baby and slapped her back.

Bridgette gasped, immediately standing up and walking over to her daughter. "No!" she firmly said, picking up her daughter and walking out of the room. "You do _not_ hit people!"

Courtney and Duncan sat there, shocked. Annie had jumped upon the attack and immediately began crying. Of course, Courtney was consoling her daughter, but she was still shocked. Isabelle just hit Annie! "Oh, my God," she muttered.

Duncan sighed, shaking his head. "Well, at least she didn't get the door open."

"Duncan!" she snapped, sighing as her daughter began wailing more.

He sighed. Him and Courtney often joked around with each other, seemingly sounding angry and serious. Because of their tone of voice, Annie would start to cry, thinking they were serious. Of course, this time, Courtney was a bit serious, so that set off their daughter even more. Duncan had to catch himself before sarcastically replying back.

"I don't know what to say, babe," he said, shrugging. "I'm shocked. I don't know why she did that!"

"She's jealous," Bridgette explained, walking back into the room.

"Where's Isabelle?" Courtney asked.

"Timeout in the living room," Bridgette explained.

"Why was she jealous?" Duncan asked.

"From the questions I asked and the few babbles I think I understand... I think she was upset we were all looking at Annie instead of watching her try to open the cabinet."

"See?" Courtney softly questioned, quietly talking to her daughter. "Isabelle didn't mean to hurt you..."

"I'm sorry," Bridgette quietly told Annie, bending down.

As she tried to get closer to the baby, Annie began to whine more. "Mama," she whimpered.

Courtney frowned at Bridgette, who was sympathetically smiling at her friend. Courtney said, "I'm sorry."

"No, no." Bridgette shook her head. "Don't apologize. She's just scared. It's not like I haven't seen or held her before."

"My Ma would go crazy if she-" Duncan pointed at Annie. "-tried to do that. She'd get so upset and start questioning Annie..." Duncan explained, chuckling slightly.

"My Mom..." Courtney had to think about that for a moment before responding, "She would certainly get confused. And then she wouldn't do anything. She would probably just sit there and watch me."

Bridgette shrugged. "Better to sit back than to interfere. My parents are all over Isabelle when they see her. She used to hate that, and they wouldn't know how to handle the whole thing. Now that she's a bit older, she's more used to it." She sighed when a "Mama?" was heard from the other room. "I'll be right back."

Courtney peeked down and found that her daughter was fast asleep! She laughed, picking up her daughter slightly and holding her against her chest. "She's asleep," she softly said.

Duncan chuckled, shocked and amused. "She fell asleep standing up?"

"Pretty much," Courtney said, kissing the top of her daughter's head. "I'm going to put her down for a while."

Duncan nodded. "It's about time for her nap, anyway."

* * *

"So your anniversary is next week..."

Courtney blinked a couple of times after Bridgette made that statement. "Mmhmm," she muttered, remembering that only her and Duncan knew the actual truth of their anniversary now being in May.

"You two have been together for eight years," Bridgette said.

"So have you and Geoff," Courtney pointed out, smiling softly at her friend.

Bridgette nodded, now also smiling softly. "That is true. But, what are you two going to do?"

Courtney shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't really talked too much about it."

"You know, I could watch Annie for you that day."

Courtney smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Bridge. That means a lot." It didn't mean quite as much as she was making it out to be, but honestly, it was nice to see her friend offering to watch her baby when she herself had a toddler to also look after.

Bridgette shrugged. "It's no problem." She sighed before saying, "I'm sorry about Isabelle earlier."

Courtney shook her head. Isabelle threw a bit of a fit for a while before taking her own nap. She softly said, "It's okay."

"It's not, though." Bridgette sighed before continuing, "Geoff and I want to have more kids. But Isabelle's entering her terrible stage-"

"I thought it was just 'terrible two's'?" Courtney questioned.

Bridgette shook her head. "It starts as early as one."

Courtney sighed. "That really sucks."

"It does." Bridgette nodded in agreement. "We really don't want to have another child during this stage. It's easy focusing on her. It's easy to look after one child... Well, for the most part. It's like with Annie earlier - she was so upset and didn't tell us how she felt, so she just lashed out. I really wish she hadn't hit Annie." She sighed, shaking her head. She muttered, "Poor Annie..."

Courtney nodded. "Annie will be fine. It's the first time that something like that has happened to her, that's why she was so upset."

"Katie hasn't accidentally hit her?" Bridgette asked.

Courtney shook her head. "Not at all. Katie used to try and get very close to Annie, and she understood quickly that the baby was something she just couldn't get near. Now Katie's allowed to sit next to Annie, but she still keeps her distance at times."

"Does Annie ever accidentally hit Katie, or pull her fur or something like that?"

"She's done it a few times. It shocked Katie at first, but Annie pulling her fur doesn't bother her anyone. Katie's barks also don't affect Annie anymore. Annie usually just laughs and pats Katie if she can."

"Wow." Bridgette nodded impressively. "That's really awesome, Court. I'm sure you and Duncan are happy Katie and Annie get along."

Courtney laughed, nodding. "That we are. I mean... Katie has always been an incredibly good dog. She's always been able to pick up new things really easily. And she's just so friendly..."

"God, you're so lucky to have this place," Bridgette murmured, peering around the room.

Courtney shrugged, softly saying, "I guess..."

"You don't like it?"

"I love it. It's beautiful and it's grandiose and... It's for a family."

"But...?"

Courtney shrugged once more. "For the longest time, it was just Duncan and I in an apartment. We were fine, the two of us. We loved it. It's just... It's so surreal, now that it's him, Katie, Annie, and myself in a house. Not that I don't like it, because, well... I love it. I love Katie. I love Annie, and I love watching her grow up. It's also so strange, because we never expected this. But, I would never give any of this up. Not for any amount of money or... or anything, really."

"Does Duncan feel the same way?"

Courtney nodded, another smile forming on her face. "Definitely. He's so good with Annie. He's a natural, really. It's so much fun to watch them together. I... I think he's always wanted children. When we got married, he said he had thought about it from time to time, but figured it just wasn't the right time..."

"This was after you found out you were pregnant, right?"

Courtney blinked. She internally sighed, fully realizing the predicament she was in. She and Duncan had that discussion sometime in April or May, and while she was actually pregnant then, she didn't know about it yet. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind by that point. She nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah."

"It's been quite the busy year, huh?"

Courtney nodding, smiling. She was even happier on the inside, for Bridgette didn't suspect anything. "It really has been. Getting married, having a baby, working..."

"Look, there's Mama and Auntie Bridgette..."

Courtney couldn't help but smile at her husband. She craned her head and watched Duncan enter their house, Annie in her front baby carrier, Katie trotting in front of them. Courtney said, "Hey there."

"Hey," Duncan drawled out, winking at his wife, causing her to giggle and roll her eyes. He unhooked Katie from her leash before proceeding to walk over to the couch. He sat down next to his wife, leaning back. "Good walk," he muttered.

"Geoff doesn't like wearing baby carriers," Bridgette said. "He'll either push Isabelle around, or he'll carry her."

"I don't care what people say." Duncan shrugged. "Strangely enough, I like wearing this thing. It's a bit easier than carrying her around..." He looked down and smiled at his daughter. "Yep, you chubby baby..."

"Hi Mama..."

Bridgette turned and smiled at her daughter. "Hey, sweetie," she softly said, continuing to smile at her tired daughter. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Oh, you two are going?" Courtney softly questioned.

Bridgette nodded. "Yeah. Geoff is getting off soon, and we were going to go out to dinner as a family tonight..."

"Well, thank you for coming over." Courtney leaned forward and hugged her best friend.

"Thank you for inviting us," Bridgette said, returning the hug. She then let go out of her friend and stood up. She picked up daughter, asking, "Are you ready?"

Courtney and Duncan watched Bridgette and her daughter walk out of their house. Duncan sighed, leaning over and resting his head on Courtney's shoulder. "I'm tired," he muttered.

"You've been working a lot." Courtney smiled at her husband and patted his leg. "Plus, you took the dog for a walk and brought Annie. Both are very, very curious."

Duncan chuckled, nodding. "I never told you why I like to carry Annie like this, have I?"

She slowly shook her head, resting her head on top of his. "I don't think so."

"Oh, I definitely haven't. You'll remember this answer. Well..." He chuckled. "This is gonna seem strange, but I... It kinda helps me realize what you went through when you were pregnant. Granted, she was all right here-" He patted his stomach. "-meaning no legs or arms or heads were hanging out... But you get the drift."

Courtney giggled, kissing the top of his head. "You also aren't having any cravings or any weird body functions or the usual pregnancy symptoms..."

"You avoided a lot of those, yourself."

"Good point."

"It feels weird. I have to really concentrate on walking or else I stagger a bit..."

"Maybe you shouldn't walk the dog while carrying Annie like that..."

"You did that your entire pregnancy."

"I walked the dog until I was six months along!"

"Mama..."

Courtney sighed, instantly regretting raising her voice. "Mommy's sorry, baby," she softly said, reaching over and running her hand over Annie's head. "Mommy didn't mean to yell at Daddy."

Annie tiredly smiled at Courtney before emitting a big, cute yawn. She placed her head back down on Duncan's chest, slowly shutting her eyes.

"We are so lucky," Duncan murmured, softly patting his daughter's back.

Courtney nodded. "I agree."

"She didn't have colic, thank goodness," he said. "She hasn't had any developmental problems, with the exception of her just catching up to a proper weight."

"She was premature, though," she pointed out.

He nodded. "I know. I'm just saying... We're lucky to have a healthy and happy baby girl. That's all."

Courtney nodded, kissing the side of his head. "I hope her terrible two's aren't... extremely terrible."

Duncan sighed, nodding. "You and me both."

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! Keep 'em coming! I'll try to have one more chapter up by Monday, because I'll be on vacation for a week starting then. I just need to figure out what I'll be writing next! Haha. I hope you enjoyed this!**


	15. BONUS: Playing Around

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Bonus chapter time! I thought I could come up with something before my vacation... that didn't happen. I thought the same during my vacation - that didn't happen, either. I've been writing this for a while, but I had trouble writing this, too... Hopefully I'll have another chapter up of either story up soon! Thank you for the reviews. Please keep them up! Enjoy!**

Duncan smiled at Courtney as she entered their apartment. "How was your last day of work?" he asked. It was Courtney's last day at her job before her six-month maternity leave.

"Wonderful," she said, smiling. "They even let me leave during lunch."

He raised an eyebrow as he glanced at his watch. "It's 4:30."

"Bridgette took me out this afternoon. She called as soon as I got off. She thought my last day was yesterday, but..." She shrugged. She wobbled over to the couch and easily plopped down next to him. When Duncan tried to reach over and rub her stomach, she quickly told him, "Don't even think about it."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I don't understand."

"You know that as soon as you start touching my stomach, she gets excited and starts abusing me."

"I wouldn't call it abuse..."

"Try having a baby grow inside of you, firstly. Try having that baby kick different organs every single day. If I remember correctly, yesterday she decided to have fun kicking my ribs..." She groaned as Duncan slid beside her and started rubbing her stomach. "She just went to sleep..."

"Well, if we teach her early enough, maybe she'll be considerate enough to sleep during the night and not wake us up," Duncan explained.

Courtney giggled, resting her head on his shoulder. "As nice as that would be, I doubt we'll be able to teach her that while she's still in the womb..." She let out a sigh and muttered, "Damn it, Duncan..."

"She messing with your insides again?"

"How did you guess?"

"What's her spot of interest today?"

"So far, the ribs. Again."

Duncan leaned down and lifted up her shirt. He gave her stomach a kiss before softly saying, "Baby, you gotta be nice to Mommy..." He then proceeded to give her stomach a few light slaps before rubbing it in a not-so-soft way.

"Don't do that..." she muttered, immediately placing her hand on her stomach and gently rubbing it.

"Do what?"

"That... That thing..." She sighed. "Sit up," she said, straightening up herself.

"Why?"

"Duncan, just do it."

He let out a sigh as he sat up. "Okay... Now what?"

"Here's how I rub my stomach." She lifted up his shirt and started to gently and softly rub his stomach.

"_Mm_..." he muttered, lazily grinning.

"See? Nice and gentle. Now, you on the other hand..." She gave his stomach a few light slaps before vigorously rubbing it.

"I don't see a problem with that..."

"If you can't touch a baby like that, you can't touch my stomach like that."

"Fair enough..." Duncan muttered. "But isn't she in this, like... nice, squishy, protective sac?"

Courtney sighed, leaning back against the couch. She gently rubbed her stomach and went, "Only two more months..." She couldn't help but smile as she felt their baby daughter kick against her touch, and somewhere that wasn't her ribs or any other organ.

"Aha, I saw a tiny kick there," he said, proceeding to lean forward and poke her stomach lightly.

"Duncan!" she snapped.

"What?"

"Stop poking my stomach!"

"Oh, don't tell me you don't do that."

"Sometimes," she muttered before adding, "Usually only when she's deciding to kick me a numerous amount of times, not when she just woke up from a tiny nap!"

"You'll be fine."

"You're as immature as a five-year-old..." she groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Oh, really?" He chuckled when he felt their baby kick against his palm. He poked the previous spot and softly said, "Right back at ya, Baby Girl..."

"Her kicks are as annoying as you..." Courtney harshly muttered.

"More like, her kick's are as persistent as you," Duncan corrected, smirking.

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" she asked, returning the smirk.

He shrugged. "It depends on the circumstance, I guess."

She smiled softly, rubbing the bottom of her stomach. "She gets annoyed when I rub the area around her head..." She pursed her lips when their daughter began to wiggle slightly in her stomach. "Oh, baby, stop that..."

"I... You're talking a lot to the baby," he muttered, raising an eyebrow.

She stared at him. "Are you serious?" she asked. "You talk to her whenever you think of something to say, yet I can't talk to her?"

"I just meant, you're talking to her a lot more than usual," he explained. "Usually you just rub your tummy with this... well, with any kind of expression, like you're telepathically talking to her..."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Is that what I look like when I do that?"

"Kinda." He shrugged before continuing, "It's not a bad thing that you talk to the baby. It's just... Okay, you have talked to yourself like a madwoman before..."

She groaned, instantly leaning forward. She shut her eyes and placed one hand on her back and the other on her leg. "I need to go for a walk."

"Fake contractions?"

She nodded. "Unfortunately."

He grunted as he quickly got up. He held his arms out for her and said, "Grab on, darlin'."

She took a deep breath, quickly massaging her lower back before reaching forward and grasping onto Duncan's lower arms as she pulled herself off the couch. It was gradually getting harder and harder for her to stand up without any kind of assistance, and she was grateful for Duncan's willingness to help her up. She let out a sigh after completely standing up. She let go of his arms and said, "Sorry if I hurt you."

He shook his head. "You didn't. You don't have to apologize, either."

"Well, with my mood swings and my body aching and me complaining about everything, I need to apologize about something."

He chuckled, resting his hand on her lower back and slowly rubbing circles there. "So where are we walking?"

"Oh, just around the apartment."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why just here?"

"I saw a few ice spots outside."

He nodded in understanding. Ever since winter had started, she had become more and more weary of stepping outside. It wasn't because of how cold it got - she owned plenty of jackets and coats and other pieces of warm clothing - but it was because of the ice that appeared from time to time. She didn't want to slip on some ice and fall. He told her, "Well, lead the way, then."

They slowly walked around the apartment, quietly chatting to each other. The fake contractions mostly went away after walking around for a few minutes, but there was still a lingering sensation there.

"Didn't this happen before?" Duncan asked as they stepped into the kitchen.

Courtney nodded as she opened the fridge. "Yeah. I think the baby was hungry then, so we'll see if this does the trick..." She grabbed an apple from the fridge and began to eat it. She stared at her husband, who was texting on his phone. She asked, "Who are you talking to?"

"Geoff."

She slowly nodded, taking another bite of her apple. "Does he want you to work more?"

He nodded, letting out a sigh. "He wants me to do another twelve-hour shift tomorrow."

She nodded, looking down as she quietly ate her apple. She was a bit upset by the news, because she was hoping they would be able to spend more time together now that she was going on maternity leave. Now that he was an assistant manager at the gas station, he worked a lot more. "Are you going to take it?" she softly asked.

He shrugged, frowning slightly at her. "I know you don't want me to take it," he murmured.

She let out a sigh, shrugging. She meekly smiled at him and said, "Geoff wouldn't ask for you if he didn't need you. You should take it."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "It's okay. Let's go out to breakfast in the morning."

He nodded, smiling. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. He chuckled when she let out a sigh. He asked, "Having trouble there?"

"I hate how much my stomach is sticking out."

"Comes with the territory."

She turned to the side just a bit before wrapping her arms around him. She leaned her head forward and rested her forehead against his chest. She quietly said, "Only two more months..."

He nodded, continuing to gently rub her back. "Can you handle it?"

She quietly laughed, nodding. "I'm pretty sure I can." She instantly beamed as she felt a jumping sensation from her daughter in her abdomen. "Baby's got the hiccups again."

Duncan laughed. He then turned his wife slightly, much to her confusion, before placing a hand on her stomach. As he rested his head on her shoulder, Courtney said, "You know the baby doesn't kick while she's got the hiccups..."

"I know. I just wanted to see if I could actually feel the hiccups this time."

She continued smiling as she snuggled her head against his. "Can you feel anything?"

"Actually, I can feel her hiccuping just a tiny bit. How does it feel?"

She shrugged. "It felt weird at first, but now... I don't know. It still feels a bit weird, but at the same time, it's also, strangely enough, a nice feeling."

He nodded, now softly rubbing her stomach with one hand. The other hand idly rested on the other side of her stomach. As much as his poking and his slight roughness sometimes bothered her, she absolutely loved it when he was gently caressing her stomach. She knew he was still processing the fact that they were going to have a child in two months. She was still processing the fact herself. They were past the stage of over-excessive worrying about whether or not they could truly take care of a child. They both loved her already, and she was still in the womb. True, they still worried a bit, but mostly about finally finishing up the nursery in time for the baby's arrival.

"Aww, her hiccups are gone..."

Courtney smirked as their baby kicked against Duncan's palm. Looks like the baby wasn't going to take a nap anytime soon! "Well, at least she's kicking again?"

"At least it's not bothering you?"

"She's not kicking any organ inside of me."

"Well, that's nice of you, baby," he softly said. She knew he was talking to their daughter, despite not being at her stomach like he normally was when talking to her. He then proceeded to poke her stomach after another kick.

"Playing with the baby, are we?" she asked, softly kissing his cheek.

He chuckled, smiling at her. "Unless it really does bother her..."

She shook her head. "Not when she's awake like this. It only bothered me earlier because she had just fallen asleep."

"Well, then..." They moved over to the couch and sat down before he continued to poke and prod her stomach, eliciting a continuous pattern from father and daughter.

Courtney re-situated herself before saying, "Let's switch things up a bit..." When their daughter kicked, Courtney proceeded to poke her stomach at the same time as Duncan. Both watched her stomach expectantly, for their baby was taking a while to decide what to do next. Suddenly, a kick appeared where Courtney had poked, causing both parents to laugh. As she rubbed her stomach, she said, "Smart baby..."

"Confused one, really."

"Oh, hush," she muttered, narrowing her eyes slightly. "She wasn't expecting us to both do that, that's all."

"And it confused her. _Duh_."

"'_Duh_'," she teasingly mimicked before rolling her eyes.

"Hah, _hah_."

She let out a contented sigh, continuing to softly stroke her stomach. "I'm hungry," she softly said.

"You just ate an apple."

"And now I'm hungry again. What about you?"

"I could grub on something."

She nodded and slowly stood up. She groaned after doing so and began to rub her back. He sympathetically smiled at her as he stood up. He leaned forward and gave her a small kiss. She returned the kiss, but it was a short one, for the immediately exclaimed, "OW!"

"What's wrong?" he quickly asked, panicked.

"Baby, that was my bladder you just kicked!"


	16. BONUS: Glowing Moments

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Yep. Another short chapter, and another bonus one. I'm finally coming up with some other ideas, so expect chapters for both stories to pop up soon! Enjoy! And please review!**

"Babe, what's wrong?"

Oh, where to start.

About ten minutes prior to that moment, after her baby had decided to have fun both abusing her bladder and ribs, at the same time, she felt a wetness on her bed. She immediately began to freak out, thinking her water had broken and she was about to give birth. As she got up and began to investigate, she realized the wetness was urine.

She had wet the bed.

She let out a sigh, feeling overwhelmed with many emotions. She slowly got up and got all the sheets and blankets off the the bed. She was only laying under a small blanket, so the comforter, the sheet, and the bedsheets were now wet. She didn't care that she was now crying at what had happened. She also didn't hear her husband enter the apartment as she placed the now dirty items in the washing machine. As she cleaned up the bed, she finally heard her husband.

She responded to his question with a quiet, "I wet the bed."

He furrowed his eyebrows, confused and stunned. "Really?"

"_Yes_!" she snapped, clearly upset as she looked at him.

He frowned. He quietly said, "I'm not making fun of you."

She sighed, nodding her head. "It's just... The baby was kicking and punching, and then I thought my water had broke, but... Nope." She shrugged, the tears continuing to fall. "I effing wet the bed."

Duncan walked over to his wife and instantly wrapped his arms around her. He felt her hug him in return, and felt her shake within his grasp. He gently rubbed her back. She had never gotten too emotional during these past five months, and to see her like this really stunned him. He softly told her, "I'm sure this is normal, since she was messing with your bladder..."

"It is," she softly said. "I just... I never expected it to happen to me. I mean, lately, as of the past two or three weeks, it kind of has been. If I cough, I pee a little. If I laugh, I pee a little. If I sneeze... I pee more than a little. Now that the baby's punching my bladder, I definitely pee!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at her explanation. She groaned and cried out, "It's not funny!"

"I know," he said, kissing the top of her head. "But the way you explained it made me laugh, that's all."

She let out another sigh, nodding. She stepped back out of his embrace and walked over to the closet. "I need to change," she quietly said.

"It's not the end of the world," he sympathetically told her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I know," she said, giving her husband a small smile. "It just feels weird to have done this."

"Have you cleaned up the bed?"

Courtney shook her head, walking into the bathroom. "I was going to do that after I change."

He shook his head, standing up. He told her, "I'll do it."

As Courtney shut the door, she said, "Cleaner's in the kitchen."

Duncan couldn't find the cleaner in the kitchen. He couldn't find it in their smaller bathroom. He let out a chuckle as he walked back into the bedroom. There was Courtney, cleaning the bed. He told her, "You tricked me."

Courtney smiled at him. She shrugged and said, "It's my mess, and I feel the need to clean it up myself. How was work?"

He shrugged. "It was alright." He leaned back onto the bed, resting at the foot of it. He smiled at his wife as she joined him, laying down next to him. "How was your day?"

She shrugged. "Boring. I just stayed home all day."

"Putting yourself on bed rest?" he teased.

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "No. Everyone was busy, so I just stayed home and cleaned up a bit."

"We still up for lunch tomorrow?"

"Of course," she said, beaming at him. "We're going to my favorite cafe. I would never turn that down."

He chuckled. He reached forward and gently rubbed her arm. "I've got some bad news."

She suddenly frowned. "Are you seriously canceling lunch tomorrow?"

"No!" he immediately said. "No, no... I quit working for Mike today."

"Really?" she softly asked.

He shrugged. "I haven't been there much these past few months, and that job takes time and dedication, something I can't really give right now... I enjoyed interning with him, and maybe I'll return one day, but for now... I have to work at the store, mostly because it pays."

She reached forward and began rubbing his arm. "Well, I'm sorry you had to quit. I know you enjoyed doing tattoos and such a lot."

"Well, thank you." He smirked and added, "I only did tattoos, babe. I hadn't started on piercings yet."

"Like you needed that training."

He loudly laughed, shaking his head. "I really didn't, did I..."

"You scared the baby."

He raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I think your laugh scared her. Right as you did that, she jumped," she explained, gently rubbing her stomach.

"Aww." He reached forward and gently patted her stomach. While continuing to gently stroke her stomach, he asked, "Am I bothering her?"

Courtney shook her head. "She's just been hanging around, moving a bit every so often..." She sighed when her husband decided to turn onto his back. His hand laid on the bed next to him. She watched him stare at the ceiling. His eyes, those beautiful teal orbs, held so much emotion. Though he was definitely thoughtful and contemplative, there was so much more swirling around in those eyes. She then became envious of his current position, just laying down on his back. She couldn't do that herself, not anymore. She told him, "I'm jealous."

"Of what?" he asked, turning his head and looking at her.

"I can't lay on my back."

"You technically could," he said, pursing his lips slightly.

"Yeah, for two minutes," she said. "Then my back would cramp up and I would need help even sitting up."

He shrugged. "Join me."

She shook her head, seemingly uninterested in the idea. "That's okay." She then pointed to the pillows at the head of the bed and said, "I'm more than content just laying against those."

"What's stopping you?" he asked.

"Well, call me picky, but I also like to be on top of comfortable covers, not just a mattress."

"Normally I'd call you picky..." He smirked at the roll of her eyes. "You're pregnant and need just a little more care."

"I'm glad you recognize that."

He chuckled, returning his gaze to the ceiling.

"See any constellations, Stargazer?"

He chuckled once more. He quietly said to her, "I miss our stargazing."

"Really?" she asked, slightly surprised. "We haven't done that in years, not since were were... twenty, twenty-one."

"Actually, we did it a couple of years ago."

"We were twenty-one a couple of years ago."

"No, wait, we did it on our honeymoon."

She furrowed her eyebrows, looking down at the bed as she tried to pull up that memory. She softly asked, "Did we?"

He nodded, looking over again at his wife and locking eyes with her. He explained to her, "On the last night there. We went down to the beach and sat there for, like, ever."

She slowly nodded. "I..." She quickly nodded, her face showing that she remembered. "I remember now." She winked at her husband and said, "The first and last time we had sex on the beach."

"Yeah, that wasn't very fun."

"Sitting kind of near the bonfire was nice."

"It was too hot if we sat too close. Plus, I wanted to be away from everyone else."

"I completely agree."

He smirked as she slowly leaned back onto the bed. He leaned forward, resting his head on his arms. He watched her sigh in contement and shut her eyes, a peaceful look on her face. He told her, "I told you..."

"You'll need to help me up in a minute."

He smirked at her. "Well, you told me that, but, of course I'll help you up."

"Always the smartass."

"You bet."

Courtney smiled, always amused by their playful conversations. She turned her head, slightly opening her eyes. She softly asked, "Are you tired."

Duncan shrugged, his head remaining on his arms. "Kinda. Worked another twelve hours without a break..."

She frowned. She slowly, but surely, turned onto her side, facing him. She reached forward and rested her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry," she softly said.

He shook his head, giving her a soft smile. "It's okay. I mean, I stepped outside for a few moments, so I guess that was a tiny break..."

"But nothing else from ten in the morning until ten at night? Isn't that kind of illegal?"

"Not if I chose to work like that willingly."

She sighed before quietly saying, "You're overworking yourself..."

"Says the woman who did the exact same thing before getting pregnant," he pointed out. He reached over and grabbed her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "Don't worry about me. I have the day off tomorrow, and while Geoff wanted me to work another third shift tomorrow night, I told him I wouldn't."

She smiled at him. "Well, thank you."

He shrugged. "I need the next two days off. I need to rest and spend time with my wife..."

She rolled her eyes, though she continued to smile. "Well, thank you, husband dearest. I appreciate that."

"You're very welcome. You ready for bed?"

"I've been ready for bed for about an hour now. Will you change the sheets?"

"Lazy."

"Hey!"

* * *

"Are you alright?"

Although Courtney nodded, Duncan couldn't help but purse his lips as he watched his wife. She slid into the booth, though she was sitting at an odd angle. Her back wasn't straightened up against the back of the booth. Her body was slid down a bit. She had a hand resting on the top of her stomach. She wore a contemplative expression on her face.

"Are you sure you're comfortable?"

Courtney nodded, smiling at Duncan. She slid up slightly and said, "I'm quite comfortable, actually."

"If you say so," he said, smiling at her.

"So what did you order?"

"Just a buffalo chicken sandwich," he said.

"And what did you get me?" she carefully asked. She always got herself a grilled chicken salad and a bag of potato chips, and she was making sure Duncan knew and remembered this.

"Your usual," he casually explained. When she only raised an eyebrow, he continued on, "Your salad, that grilled chicken one. And the chips."

She smiled, truly happy she was getting the food she loved from that cafe. "Thank you, sweetie."

"You're welcome."

He stared at her, watching her look at her phone and type away. He didn't realize it until then, but she really was glowing. Of course, her smiling at her phone helped, but she definitely had this happy and light glow that seemed to radiate around her. His Ma had noticed it a few weeks prior, but he didn't see it. He never saw it, not until that moment.

"You okay?"

He smiled at her, causing her to smile, despite wearing a confused expression. He told her, "Just admiring your beauty right now."

She blushed and quietly asked, "Really?"

He nodded. "You're glowing."

She laughed, shaking her head. "Not you, too..."

He chuckled. He asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, your Mom keeps gushing about how beautiful I look, and how this 'glow' really adds on to that. Mom's noticed my glow for... for months now, really. And then other people have commented on it, too. I don't really see it."

"If it helps, I just noticed it today," he said, shrugging.

She shrugged as well. "I don't know. We'll see if I notice it before I give birth."


	17. Quality Bliss

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Hopefully I'll have something else up soon. Review and enjoy!**

"You know, your Daddy isn't so pleased you haven't said '_dada_' yet..."

Suzie smiled at her granddaughter, who was curiously staring up at her. She was holding onto Annie's hands as the baby stood up on her grandmother's thighs. Suzie was watching Annie for the day while Duncan and Courtney worked.

"Mama..." Annie softly said, looking around.

Suzie's smile grew. As much as she loved and adored each of her three sons, Annie was definitely one of the most adorable babies she had ever seen. It was nice to finally see a baby girl in the family. True, she had a few nieces, but she rarely saw them. As happy as she was that a baby girl was born in the family, she was also generally happy that another baby was born in the family. At times, she expected Duncan to be the first of her sons to have a child, and other times, she expected him to not have one at all. She was relieved that was indeed going to be a Father, and was excited that Courtney would be the woman carrying his child.

"Ma ma maa..."

"Ma ma maa," Suzie mimicked, leaning forward and quickly kissing her granddaughter's nose. She then said, "Da da da..."

"Ma ma ma..."

Suzie smirked at the sudden giggle's that emerged from the baby's mouth. She figured Annie was mimicking her, maybe mocking her. She gently placed the baby down as her phone began to vibrate. She placed Annie next to Katie, who was currently asleep. She answered the phone with a "Hello?"

"Well, dern, Ma, that took you a while to pick up."

"I had to put your daughter on the ground first," Suzie explained, rolling her eyes.

"Aah. How was she today?"

"Just perfect."

"That's good. Anyways, Court and I are outside. Can you help us bring some groceries in?"

Suzie laughed, standing up. "I'll see you in a second." She placed her phone in her pocket after ending the call. She picked up the baby and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Let's go help your Daddy bring some stuff in," she said, walking outside.

"Why'd you bring Annie outside?" Duncan asked, curiously staring at his Ma.

"I wasn't gonna leave her inside," Suzie said, slightly shocked. She looked around, and after being unable to locate her daughter-in-law, she asked, "Where's Courtney?"

Duncan pointed at the car, and Suzie then saw Courtney sitting there, chatting on her phone. He explained, "Business stuff. Care to help me?"

Suzie nodded. She helped him carry the grocery bags inside while keeping a firm hold on her granddaughter. As they walked inside, she asked, "So, how was work today?"

Duncan shrugged, setting the bags down on the counter. "It was alright. Kinda boring. Did you do anything today?"

"Just watched your daughter," Suzie said, teasingly smirking at her son.

Duncan rolled his eyes. He smiled at his daughter and said, "I heard you were good for Grammy today."

"Dada!" she exclaimed, holding her arms out to him.

Both Suzie and Duncan's jaws dropped. It took her two months after saying "mama" to finally say "dada"! Duncan beamed at his daughter as he took her from Suzie's grasp. "You said it, baby girl!" he happily said, planting kisses all over her face. Annie giggled, happily smiling at her Dad.

"Annie said what?" Courtney asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Dada!" Annie happily exclaimed, smiling broadly at her Mom.

Courtney furrowed her eyebrows, but an amused smile soon formed on her face. She said, "Aww, how cute."

"She finally said it," Duncan said, grinning.

"I see," Courtney said, smiling. "How do you feel?"

"Like the proudest parent ever," Duncan said. He glanced at his Ma, who was wiping at the sides of her eyes. He frowned slightly. "Ma, don't cry..."

Suzie shook her head, letting out a few laughs. "I'm not sad," she softly said.

"I figured that," Duncan teased. He looked at his wife and motioned his head towards their daughter. He handed Annie to Courtney and watched them walk out of the room before quietly asking his Ma, "What's up?"

"I'm just so happy," Suzie softly said, smiling at her son. "I'm just... It's amazing to see Annie grow up, and to see you just be so..." She shrugged before continuing, "I love watching you with Annie. And to see her finally say 'dada'... It's so amazing."

Duncan chuckled, leaning over and hugging his Ma. He gently began rubbing her back. Things like this were weird to him. While he got complimented on being able to control his younger cousin, Jimmy, it was weird to be complimented on his behavior around children. To see his Ma like this really freaked him out. True, she had her moments of being emotional over things, and seeing her upset always made him uncomfortable. (Courtney becoming upset was also something he was never comfortable with.) But he knew where she was coming from - he had a child. Him, Duncan Evans, Mister Tough Man, has a child, and he was absolutely in love with her. It was strange to him at times, but he never cared about that too much. He loved seeing Annie grow up. He loved seeing her smile, he loved hearing her laughter, he loved watching her curious expression at anything new she encountered. And, even though it broke his heart slightly, he loved seeing her grow upset while watching him and Courtney leave.

"You know, I understand where you're coming from," he softly said.

"Of course you do. She's your daughter."

He chuckled and said, "That she is. But..." He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I can only say 'I understand'."

Suzie laughed, patting her son's back. She asked, "Are you hungry, sweetie?"

"Well..." He smirked at her, much to her curiosity, before saying, "Courtney and I wanted to cook for you. Well, and for Pa, if he's still coming over..."

She pursed her lips. "I'm not sure. Let me call him real quick and see if he's still even in Toronto..."

"Gotcha."

Duncan waltzed out of the kitchen and walked into the living room. He instantly smiled at the sight before him. Courtney was holding Annie up on her stomach, allowing their daughter to "walk" on her stomach. He walked over to them and sat down on the ground.

"Mama," Courtney softly said.

"Mama," Annie repeated.

"Dada," Courtney softly said.

"Dada," Annie repeated.

"Grammy," Duncan slowly interjected, earning a few laughs from his wife. Annie just smiled at her Dad, her mouth happily hanging open. Her bright, wide eyes twinkled. He knew she was stumped, but couldn't help but smile at her goofy smile. He leaned forward and gave her a loud kiss on the cheek, causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles. He quietly told her, "_Sei cosi adorabile, bambina_."

"Ba...ba...ba..." Annie quietly muttered.

"Tryin' to imitate me, huh?" he asked, lifting Annie off of Courtney as the older woman began to sit up. "_Sciocca_..."

"I figured you were calling her adorable earlier, but what does '_sciocca_' mean?" Courtney asked.

"Silly girl," Duncan explained, watching Annie just stand there in front of him. He marveled at her ability to stand up by herself, something she had mastered a couple of months prior. "Are you going to walk, baby?"

"How do you say that in Italian?" Courtney asked. Part of her was genuinely interested, and part of her wanted Annie to keep hearing Italian.

"Uh..." Duncan thought about it for a moment before saying, "_Stai andando a piedi, bambina_?"

"How come you had to think about it?" Courtney asked, smirking slightly.

"Italian comes naturally when I'm not thinking about it," he explained, shrugging.

Courtney nodded. She then reached forward and grabbed onto Annie's hands. Annie's face immediately lit up, and she began to take choppy steps towards her Mom. She was holding onto Courtney's fingers tightly, as if she were hanging on for dear life. Courtney couldn't stop smiling, only because she loved watching her daughter "walk". When her daughter got closer to her, she scooped Annie up in her arms and planted kisses all over face. "Just imagine when you take your first steps!"

Duncan smirked. "I think we'll both be freaking out."

Courtney laughed, shaking her head. "Do you think so?"

"Oh, I know so," Duncan said, continuing to smirk. "I mean, she needed to be held when she first said 'mama', but later we freaked out. And today, I freaked out when she said 'dada'. When she started crawling, you called everyone."

Courtney rolled her eyes, though she could feel the blush filling up her face. He was right. They got very excited when she did so many things. She wasn't going to stop just because he brought it up. She knew he would continue that same pattern as well.

"So, sweetie, I've got some... some slightly bad news for you..."

Duncan turned around, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. He asked, "Mmhmm?"

"Well, okay, I've got some good news first: Your Father is coming over tonight. Unfortunately, and this is the bad news... He's bringing over dinner." She grimaced slightly before saying, "I'm sorry, I know you two wanted to cook for us..."

He shrugged, turning back around. "It's okay," he said. "We didn't know what we were going to cook for you, anyway."

* * *

Courtney sighed, hearing her daughter's crying echo through their baby monitor and into their room. It was almost 2:30AM, only maybe four hours after she had been put in bed for the night. Annie had been doing this every now and then for the past few weeks, and neither parent was completely sure why she suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.

Courtney slowly slid out of bed, trying her best to not wake her husband, who had to work early that morning. She quietly walked out of the room and downstairs into her daughter's room. She sadly smiled, seeing her daughter still looking upset as she stood up against the side of the crib.

"Mama," Annie weakly said, her tear-stained face continuing to look upset even as Courtney stepped closer to her daughter.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Courtney asked, picking up her daughter. She frowned and let out a sigh as Annie clung onto her nightshirt. That's when it hit Courtney: Separation anxiety. Duncan and Courtney never liked working at the same time, so it was rare to see both of them away from Annie most of the day. Those were the nights where she had the most trouble sleeping. It seemed like it was getting harder and harder for Annie to grasp the fact that sometimes her parents had to go away for a while. Courtney knew herself and Duncan would return back home at some point, but of course Annie couldn't grasp that concept.

"It's okay, baby," Courtney softly said, kissing the top of her head. She stood there for a few minutes, gently rocking her body and daughter around. She smiled in content, thinking her daughter was finally at peace and was able to go back to bed. She walked over to the crib and began to set her daughter back in there when the baby instantly began to wail. Courtney let out a sigh as she brought her daughter back closer to her. She quietly said, "Annie, you need to go to bed..."

"Just bring her upstairs..."

Courtney jumped and instantly turned around. She hadn't even heard her husband walk towards the room! He was leaning against the doorway, an extremely tired expression on his face. She frowned slightly before quietly saying, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I'm pretty sure we won't squish her," Duncan said, softly smiling.

Courtney cracked a small smile before saying, "What if I said I don't like the idea? One, it may become a habit-"

"She's nine months old," Duncan softly explained. "This is the first time she'll be doing this. I don't think she'll make a habit out of it."

"We'll see. And, two... There have only been a few days where we weren't snuggled up against each other during the night."

He rolled his eyes. "Look, I'm tired, and I'd rather not fall over right here. I'll be fine, you'll be fine, she'll be fine... We'll be fine. Please?"

She let out a sigh before shrugging. She followed her husbands upstairs and into their bedroom. She pursed her lips and watched her husband get into their bed. She didn't want Annie sleeping under their blanket, because she didn't want to suffocate or squish their daughter. "Duncan," she softly said. When he sleepily grunted, she said, "Take the blanket. I'm getting my own." Although hearing him sigh, she saw him pull the blanket onto his side. She went into their closet and grabbed herself a sheet before walking over to the bed. She carefully placed Annie down on the middle of it before laying down herself. She immediately smiled and sighed in relief. She was so glad to be back in her own bed.

And, even though it felt like she was only asleep for a short period of time, she was awoken at the sound of her baby crying early in the morning. She sleepily opened her eyes and saw that Duncan was no where in sight. She was right there, though, but maybe Annie was upset at the lack of being noticed by anyone at the moment. She glanced at the clock, which read 6:15AM. She looked at her daughter and asked, "Baby, why aren't you asleep?" She then saw Duncan exit their bathroom, looking a bit worried.

"Shit," he murmured. He smiled apologetically at Courtney. "Sorry, Court."

"It's not like you woke her up," she said, smiling softly at him.

He nodded, though he continued to wear a contemplative look on his face. "Here, let me take her," he finally said.

She pursed her eyebrows. "Duncan, you have to go to work."

"I know," he said. "But Geoff's getting off as soon as I get there. Let me call him real quick and see if they'll watch Annie while I'm work. She looks like she won't fall back asleep right now."

Courtney slowly nodded, but she was certainly shocked. She must have looked shocked, because while he was waiting on his phone, he chuckled at her. "Think of this day as a you and may day," he said, winking at her.

She smiled as he talked on the phone. She looked at their daughter, who looked half-asleep yet again. She wasn't sure how the next night would be, since Annie would probably be at someone else's house the entire day.

"Alrighty," Duncan said, interrupting her thoughts. He smiled at his daughter and said, "Auntie Bridgette is gonna watch you all day! Maybe. Maybe Grandma can pick you up later..."

"Seriously?" Courtney asked, shocked at Geoff and Bridgette being okay with it.

Duncan nodded, shrugging. "He seemed cool with it. He said him and Bridgette were talking about spending more time with her, anyway. Now..." He smiled at his wife as he picked up their daughter. "You get some sleep while I'm gone."

She tried smiling at him, but, in truth, she felt bad for his continuous lack of sleep. She reached forward and rubbed his arm. "Did you get much sleep last night?"

"Don't worry about it," he said, continuing to smile at her. "Think of it as a role-reversal. Kinda. You spent all of high school and University staying up all night and only getting so much sleep. Now it's my turn. Take today to sleep or lay around whatever, like I did."

Though she cried and smiled while he was there, sleeping is exactly what he did for a few hours past that moment.


	18. Drunk Halloween

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

**A/N: Another late Halloween chapter! Hah. I will warn you, there are some events in here that have have not happened in "The Time of Our Lives" yet (and that won't happen for a while, actually). Thanks for the reviews! More would be great, of course, but I can't complain. Enjoy!**

"Baby, it's your first Halloween!"

Annie smiled happily at Courtney as the older woman planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead. Courtney said to her daughter, "I wish you could come with us to the party tonight, but who knows what kind of shenanigans will go on this year..."

"Babe, I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of drinking going on," Duncan murmured as he walked down the steps.

Courtney shrugged, holding onto her baby's hands as Annie stood up on her legs. She looked over at her husband and asked, "When is your Mom getting here?"

He shrugged, standing behind the couch. He rested his hands on his wife's shoulders and began to gently massage them. He quietly asked, "Are you sure you want Ma watching her here tonight?"

"I doubt we're going to get plastered," she said, looking up at her husband. "One of us has to have less than two or three drinks, though. I don't want either of us driving home while wasted. But, if one of us happens to be a little intoxicated... The other will just call your Mom and tell her."

"That's the problem," Duncan murmured. He was about to his explain when his daughter held her arms out, signaling to be held. After hearing her softly say "dada", he chuckled and reached forward, grabbing his daughter. "Did you sleep well?" he asked, smiling fondly at his daughter. "Daddy would have fed you breakfast like he normally does but..." He shook his head, letting out a sigh while continuing to softly smile. "Working that twelve-hour shift until five in the morning just about killed your Daddy."

"Oh, _hush_," Courtney murmured, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, you try that and see how it works," Duncan said, raising an eyebrow.

"It did not almost kill you," Courtney said, narrowing her eyes slightly at her husband.

He rolled his eyes, not bothering to get into an argument with her. He said, "As I was saying, I'd rather Ma not know if one of us was drunk. I don't want her seeing us like that."

She let out a small sigh, but nodded in agreement. She quietly said, "You're right... Can she watch Annie at her house?"

"I don't see her having a problem with that..."

* * *

"Why isn't Annie dressed up?"

"Oh, I don't know, Ma. She's only almost eleven months old! It's not like she can go trick-or-treating..."

Suzie rolled her eyes, readjusting Annie's position on her hip. She then told her son, "It's a good thing I bought her a little something. I want her to look cute when we answer the door."

Duncan was about to make a retort when the thought popped into his head. All the kids and parents were going to gush over his daughter... and Annie would other smile in return or freak out. He decided to go ahead and comment and said, "Have fun being around Annie being uncomfortable around everyone."

"She is fine around people," Suzie said, narrowing her eyes at her son.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot I was her Father, and I don't know anything about my own daughter."

"Dada..."

Duncan let out a sigh. He sympathetically smiled at his daughter, who was fearfully staring up at him. He leaned down to her eye-level. He softly said to her, "Sometimes Daddy and Grammy get into petty fights. We're not really being mean to each other... kinda..."

Suzie laughed, shaking her head. She turned her head towards the staircase and saw that Courtney was walking down. She marveled at the young woman for being able to pull off each of the costumes she wore each year so flawlessly. This year, both Courtney and Duncan were wearing matching ring leader outfits. She gushed at the young woman and said, "Goodness, sweetie. You look so pretty!"

Courtney softly laughed, a blush rising on her cheeks. "Thank you," she softly said. She regained her normal voice as she continued, "And thank you for watching Annie tonight."

"Oh, it's no problem," Suzie said, shaking her head. "You know I love seeing Annie."

"It's borderline creepy at times," Duncan said, causing his Ma to roll her eyes.

"Don't you two have to be going now?" Suzie asked, looking at her watch.

Duncan looked at his own watch and groaned. It was 5:30, thirty minutes before the party was to start, and it would take at least thirty minutes to get to Geoff and Bridgette's apartment. "That we do," he said. He leaned forward and gave his daughter a loud kiss on the cheek. He chuckled at her quiet coos. They stared into each others eyes, both wearing a content smile on their faces. He quietly told his daughter, "Be good for Grammy, baby."

"Alright, let me say good-bye to my daughter," Courtney said. She was half-teasing, half-serious. Annie and Duncan shared this mysterious, quiet bond, and while her and Annie had their own bond, she often grew jealous of the one her husband and daughter shared. Theirs was more prominent, and at times, she felt like Annie was a lot closer to Duncan than to herself.

"Mommy's jealous," Duncan teased, winking at his wife. Despite her blush and smirk, he watched his wife say good-bye to their daughter. He could hear the serious tone in her voice, and the underlying hurt that she herself may have not picked up on. He knew she watched them when together, and he could see the slight jealousy in her eyes. They didn't like to fight over Annie, especially if she were to suddenly display more attention to one parent than the other. He knew babies flip-flopped like that all the time. He also knew Annie expected different things from each parent. She was constantly asking to be picked up by Duncan, and he would swing her around and lift her high up, and he assumed she liked that. He saw that Annie loved to be held by Courtney, and loved to give her version of kisses all over her Mom's face.

"Are you ready?" Courtney asked, turning to her husband.

Duncan nodded. He smiled at his Ma and said, "See ya tomorrow."

"You two be careful," Suzie said, frowning slightly. "Try not to drink too much, if you can..."

Duncan couldn't make any promises, and that's exactly what he told his Ma. He stuck to his plan of only drinking a couple of beers, but his wife was another story. They were together for a little while, and even when Bridgette dragged Courtney away, he could tell his wife was beginning to get seriously intoxicated. She had never really gotten drunk. There were a few times where she had a few strong drinks that caused her to lose her balance slightly, but she never lost her focus. He had a feeling she would wake up the next morning with a killer hangover, and possibly no recollection of the party.

"Court's goin' crazy, man."

Duncan nodded, turning to Geoff. "I'm kinda worried about her," he murmured.

Geoff shrugged. "I mean, I understand, but you're looking out for her."

"I have no idea where she's...even...at..." Duncan trailed off, staring ahead at a shocking sight, at least to himself. All he could think was: There was no way this was happening.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Geoff asked.

Duncan nodded his head towards the sight in front of him. Courtney was giggling and was probably flirting with her ex-boyfriend, the same one that cheated on her when she was younger. He was also the one that was best friends with the guy that attacked Courtney when she was 18. He said to his friend, "That's what's wrong."

Geoff stared at Courtney and this guy for a moment, confused. He finally said, "Um... Who's that?"

"Courtney's ex-boyfriend. The one that cheated on her."

Geoff tilted his head at the guy. "That's him?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Duncan raised an eyebrow, turning his head slightly so he was looking at his friend. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Bridgette knows him from this, like... parenting thing she goes to sometimes. He's usually there with, uh... his girlfriend or wife or whatever. I'm not sure. I know she's not here, though."

Duncan slowly nodded, continuing to stare at his wife. He was shocked when she placed her hands on his chest, but was even more shocked she seemingly stared at her hands with a confused and almost upset expression.

"I'll be right back," Geoff told his friend.

Duncan slowly nodded, carefully watching his wife. He crossed his arms, leaning against the side of the couch. He saw Courtney pat her pockets and sides, and strangely enough her chest. He smirked when she smacked the guy's hands away when he tried to touch her. He curiously watched her excuse herself before looking around. They locked eyes, and she began to walk towards him.

"Duncan," she said, concern laced in her voice.

He furrowed his eyebrows, now also concerned. He asked her, "What's up?"

"I can't find my rings!" she quietly said, though the panic was still evident in her voice.

He furrowed his eyebrows, looking down at his own hand. His wedding ring was also missing. "Shit," he murmured.

"Why aren't we wearing them?" she asked, continuing her panic-whisper.

He patted his own pockets, and was relieved to find them resting in there. "I feel them," he quietly said, smiling.

She let out her own sigh of relief, a smile finally overtaking her face. She then told him, "I need mine."

He shrugged before grabbing her two rings out of his pocket. He handed them to her and watched her briskly put them on. "Any reason you need them?"

"Any reason they were in your pocket?"

"Good point."

"Well, I'm off to mingle some more," Courtney said, winking at her husband.

Duncan chuckled. "Don't have too much fun, okay?"

"Oh, that won't happen until later with you and me," she said, winking at him yet again.

He bit his lip slightly as he watched her walk off. He didn't want to burst into a fit of laughter with her around. Her winking was off slightly, her grammar was off with "you and me", and either she was trying to do a "sexy" walk for him or her walking was seriously becoming impaired. He couldn't help but wonder why she decided to get plastered tonight. Maybe it wasn't her original idea, since she wasn't all up for it earlier in the day.

The party wasn't all that great. Mostly people stood around and chatted. He kept an eye out on his wife most of the time as she made her way around the party. He watched her chat and most likely flirt with a bunch of men, and while he wasn't too thrilled about that aspect, he was rather happy that she seemed to dislike an advances they would try to make towards her. He almost found it funny how their roles were seemingly switched that night. Normally he was the one that made his way around the party talking to everyone, and usually she was by his side, just hanging around. She was never too fond of parties, but that night, everything seemed to have changed in her mind.

Finally she made her way back over to him. Goofily smiling, she asked, "Are you having fun tonight?"

"Oh, I'm having_ so_ much fun," he sarcastically said, smirking at her instant giggles.

"I'm thirsty," she suddenly said. She smiled and asked, "Can I have some water?"

"I don't see why not," he said, continuing to smile at the way she was acting.

Courtney glanced around before saying, "I don't see any water."

Duncan wanted to burst out into laughter right then and there. He didn't to offend his wife, though. He wasn't sure how she would react to him laughing. He then told her, "Want to come with me to find some?"

She eagerly nodded. She linked her arm with his and leaned her head against his arm as they made their way towards the party. She suddenly told him, "You smell nice."

"You did buy this cologne for me because you liked how it smelled," he reminded her.

"_Mm_..." She lazily smiled, keeping a firm hold on his arm.

"Aah, look, there's the water," he said, pointing ahead.

"I'm hungry, too," she said, looking up at him.

"Have you not eaten anything at the party?" he asked, looking down at her.

She furrowed her eyebrows, seemingly deep in thought. "I haven't eaten anything since... uhh... Wh-when Annie had breakfast, I ate then."

"You haven't eaten since breakfast?" he asked, shocked. He could have sworn she had something else in between breakfast and the party.

"Hmm..." She remained silent for a moment before shrugging. She told him, "I don't know. Maybe."

"Well, let's grab some water and you and I can eat something, okay?" he asked.

She happily nodded. She tried to grab a beer bottle, insisting it was water, but he had to pry the beer away from her and actually lead her towards the water. They then sat down at the counter and slowly ate some of the finger foods that were there.

"I want a steak," Courtney said, popping a piece of cubed cheese into her mouth.

"Maybe we'll get some later," Duncan said, shrugging. He then asked her, "Are you having fun at the party?"

She shook her head, but continued to wear a goofy smile on her face. "Nope," she said. "Everyone's boring. And then the guy's keep trying to... to touch me and stuff! I'm like, '_Hey! Can't you see my wedding ring?_'"

He chuckled. "How many guys have tried to hit on you?"

"I don't know. Has anyone tried to hit on you tonight?"

"Nah."

"Why not?" she asked, seemingly truly surprised. "You're, like... so hot! Everyone in here should be jealous."

He let out a boisterous laugh. He was truly enjoying their conversation. He asked, "Why should they be jealous?"

"The girls should be jealous of me for being married to someone as hot as you, and you're en... en... endow..." When she couldn't think of the word, she bluntly said, "Your penis is huge."

He chuckled, though a blush immediately formed on his cheeks. He certainly wasn't expecting her to say that. It wasn't a lie, and he wasn't about to say that, but she never willingly said that aloud. "So when do you want to head out of here?"

"Now, prefer'bly," she said. She then jumped out of her seat. Her smile dropped as she grabbed onto the counter. She blinked her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows. "Whoa," she muttered.

Duncan furrowed his eyebrows. He asked his wife, "What's up?"

Courtney remained silent for a few moments before smiling at her husband. "Nothing," she said, grinning. "Things got spin-y for a moment."

He chuckled, shaking his head. He also got off the stool and said, "Let's say good-bye to our friends."

* * *

"Dunkie, let's have sex."

"Oh, no."

"Why not?"

Duncan rolled his eyes before turning to his wife. She sounded completely serious, and still totally drunk. He told her, "I don't have sex with drunk people."

"But I'm horny, that has to count for something..."

He rose an eyebrow before saying, "Then go masturbate in the bathroom. Don't do it in front of me."

"Why?" she coyly asked, a mischievous grin forming on her face. She slowly ran her hands over her body, a seductive smirk on her face. She softly asked him, "Will this turn you on?"

"Probably," he admitted, barely successive at keeping his eyes locked on her face.

"What about this?" she softly asked, reaching into her skirt.

He quickly reached over and softly swatted her hands. "Stop that," he murmured.

She giggled, resting her hands on her stomach. She looked up at the ceiling and simply, yet quietly, said, "I'm not that horny."

"I bet," he murmured, smirking at his wife.

Courtney's smile widened as she continued to stare up at the ceiling. She softly said, "I love having sex with you."

"Why?" he just-as-softly asked.

She pursed her lips slightly. She then explained, "It makes me feel safe in a way."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't understand."

She shrugged. "I mean, yeah, the sex is usually great-"

"_Usually_?" he asked, his eyes widening.

She smirked, turning to her husband. "Yep. Usually."

"Huh," he muttered. He shrugged. He told his drunk wife, "Continue on."

She thought for a moment as she turned on her back, looking back up at the ceiling. "Oh, yeah. I, uh... I love the way you hold me. It makes me feel safe."

He nodded and said, "I see." He watched her continue to stare up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure if she was finally sobering up or not. As drunk as she was, she certainly didn't look like she had way too many drinks. She almost held herself together, with the exception of really loosening up. He watched her simple expression turn into a contemplative one. He quietly asked, "What's up, babe?"

"Just thinkin'..."

"About...?"

"Was I pretty when we first had sex after Annie was born?"

He was taken aback by that question. He knew she wasn't comfortable with her body sometimes, but she never really brought up that topic after Annie was born. He had always thought she was a sexy and beautiful woman, and he told her that constantly. It took him a second to remember that night, but once he did, he said, "Of course."

"I mean, I know we waited... uhh, how long did we wait again?"

"Twelve weeks. Neither of us were really in the mood until then, though."

"Oh, yeah. But, I know we waited that long, and I... I... I was happy we waited that long. I hated that my stomach continued to stick out as much as it did."

"You were pregnant." Oh, how they both had this conversation many times.

"I know," she quietly said. "I just... I don't know."

She was beginning to reveal a lot of things that she wouldn't have sober. He wasn't sure how she would react, but he asked her, "You are happy you had Annie, right?"

She nodded, a soft smile forming on her face. "She's my little angel," she softly said. "I never thought I could be a Mom before I had her, and well... I'm a damn good Mom, really." She smiled a bit more at Duncan's chuckles. Before he could respond, she said, "But, there are times where it's so overwhelming."

He nodded. "I agree."

"I still don't know what she wants sometimes," she softly said. "I love her with all of my heart, and..." She took a deep breath in before saying, "I think she does, too."

"Are you kidding me?" he asked. When she looked over at him, he continued, "Annie loves you so much. You know she does. She screams out 'mama!' every time you enter the room, she only wants you feeding her jarred food, she loves being held by you..."

She slowly nodded. "It's just hard sometimes," she softly said.

It seemed like she didn't want to talk about it anymore, and, in all honesty, he didn't, either. He scooted closer to his wife and wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers. He smiled when she held onto his arms. "Try to go to bed, okay?"

"What if I have to puke?"

"Do you feel like you have to?"

"Kind of."

"Then make sure you get as close to the bathroom as you can. I'll be there right behind you."


	19. Loss and Love

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

"Look who's coming over..."

Duncan couldn't help but grin as Annie let out a huge squeal at the sight of her Mom. Courtney smiled at the two of them. Her smile brightened as her daughter continued to squeal.

"Sorry I had to meet you here," she said, giving her husband a quick kiss on the lips before sitting down in the seat across from him.

"It's okay," he said, smiling. He then motioned to their daughter and said, "I'd apologize to her, though..."

"My baby," Courtney cooed, leaning over and giving her daughter a long kiss on the forehead. Annie giggled from her high-chair. Courtney smiled and said to her, "Mommy's sorry she had to make you wait. Mommy's job was being mean to her today..." She then proceeded to over-exaggerate her pout, causing another set of giggle's to come out of her daughter's mouth.

"I get ignored when I come home late, yet you get a bunch of giggles," Duncan said, rolling his eyes and letting out a fake sigh.

"Boo-hoo," Courtney said, smirking while rolling her eyes.

"Well, at least she wants me to hold her most of the time," Duncan said, smiling at his daughter. Annie was holding her arms out to him. He leaned forward and gave her a high-five, causing her to let out a frustrated squeal. "What? You didn't want to high-five?" He chuckled and proceeded to pick her up out of her seat and placing her next to him in the booth, in between himself and the wall.

"How was your day?" Courtney asked.

Duncan shrugged. "Same ol'. Picked her up around noon. Malibu said she was being cranky this morning..."

Courtney frowned, letting out a sigh. "Did she at least take a nap this afternoon?"

"Oh, she passed out on the ride back home."

She nodded and then looked at her daughter, who was staring at something behind their booth. "What are you looking at, baby?" Annie quickly turned around and cheekily smiled at her Mom, causing both parents to start laughing. Courtney teasingly asked her daughter, "Did we catch you staring at a boy?" Annie let out a giggle, causing Courtney to laugh and Duncan to frown.

"Oh, I was just messing around with her," Courtney said, noticing Duncan's expression.

"She is not dating until... Not until she's twenty-one," Duncan said.

"Oh really?" Courtney asked, raising an eyebrow. "What about us? We both started dating at a young age..."

"I wouldn't count sixteen as too young..."

"Uhh, we both had our first relationships before that."

Duncan smirked, staring off. "Yep... What was her name...? Ah, yes, Jenny..."

Courtney rolled her eyes. She looked at her daughter, who was trying to grab things on the table. "Baby, you can't touch those things," Courtney said, reaching forward and prying a spoon out of her daughter's grasp.

When Annie started to let out a few cries, Duncan immediately pulled her current favorite toy, a purple octopus, out of the baby bag and handed it to his daughter. "Here, Annie, play with this."

Annie immediately pulled the toy close to her, causing both parents to let out sighs of relief. They didn't want her to start crying loudly in public due to her being distressed over not holding something. Courtney smiled as her daughter quietly mumbled to the octopus. She watched Annie look from the octopus to Duncan to herself and back to the stuffed toy. She knew Annie was already complaining about her parents to the stuffed toy. Or maybe she wasn't. Courtney looked at Duncan, who was smiling down at his daughter.

"You think she's talking about us?" he softly asked, looking over at his wife.

She shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised. Look at how she's holding the stuffed animal and peeking at us..."

Annie immediately stopped her jabber. She continued staring at Courtney before holding out her stuffed octopus. "Mama," she softly said.

Courtney pursed her lips, trying to figure out what her baby wanted her to do. She cautiously reached forward and tried taking the stuffed animal from her daughter's hands, but Annie let out a frustrated squeal, immediately pulling the stuffed animal closer to her.

Annie immediately said, "No!"

Courtney was taken aback. Her daughter had said that word a few times now, and she was shocked every time. She looked over at Duncan, who was curiously staring at his daughter. Duncan looked into Courtney's eyes and shrugged. He turned to his daughter and said, "Baby, can I see your purple octopus?"

"Dada," Annie softly said, holding the stuffie to her Father.

Duncan furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the stuffed animal in front of him. Courtney watched him lean forward and planted a kiss on the octopus's forehead. When Annie broke out into a grin, Courtney murmured to herself, "Huh."

"You wanted me to kiss that thing?" Duncan asked, very much surprised. He smirked at his daughter's giggles before responding, "You cute, confusing little girl..."

"Hmm..." Courtney murmured, chewing softly on the bottom of her lip as another cramp hit her stomach. She gently began rubbing it, frowning slightly as her husband and daughter stared over at her.

"Stomach still bothering you?" Duncan softly asked, concern filling his eyes.

Courtney nodded, letting out a sigh. "It's weird," she softly said. "This pain literally came out of nowhere..."

He shrugged, leaning back into his seat. "Your cramps always did that."

"These don't feel like normal cramps..." She let out another sigh, shrugging. "That's why I'll be seeing my doctor when we take Annie to her pediatrician tonight."

* * *

Courtney silently stared at the Doctor, watching her face study the monitor in front of her. The Doctor had been silent for a minute now, and it was very much starting to worry her. She then softly asked, "What's wrong?"

The Doctor let out a sigh before turning to Courtney, a sad expression on her face. "It seems like you are miscarrying."

Courtney sat there for a few moments, completely shocked. She then furrowed her eyebrows, but her facial expression was very confused. "I was pregnant?" she softly asked.

The Doctor nodded. She pointed at the screen, and Courtney now turned her head towards the machine. The Doctor explained, "The baby is right here... The fetus looks like it could be maybe six weeks along. And, as you can tell, we can't hear any kind of heartbeat..."

Courtney gently nodded, her eyes fixed onto the screen. She had been pregnant with her second child. She was almost positive that her alcohol intake from the Halloween party only two days ago was the reason why her miscarriage had happened. The symptoms, the cramping and the slight spotting, had appeared the previous day, yet she hadn't thought much of it. She knew her and Duncan weren't prepared for another child, and while they had talked about possibly having another child sometime in the future, she didn't expect the future to be so soon, nor for it to end this way.

"I'm sorry for your loss," the Doctor sympathetically said. "Would you like to wait for the tissue to expel naturally, or would you rather get it taken out now?"

"Let's do it now," Courtney softly said. "But, uh... I need to tell my husband first. But he's at our daughter's appointment right now, in room 718."

The Doctor nodded. "I see. Well, let me call up there and see how much longer it will be, okay? We also have a nursery up there so he can leave her in there while he stays with you down here."

Courtney nodded. "Okay." She knew the nurse was talking, but she wasn't listening to what she was saying. She was still shocked at the fact that she had just had a miscarriage. It continued to both shock and upset her. The same thoughts kept going through her mind, mostly at the fact she knew it was her fault it had even happened. Not for one moment had she suspected she was pregnant again.

"Your husband will be down in just a minute," the Doctor explained.

Courtney instantly emerged from her thoughts at the Doctor's voice. "Okay," she said, watching the Doctor leave the room. She then placed her hands on her stomach, her fingers softly rubbing and prodding it. When she was pregnant, her stomach felt hard, and she could feel the current hardness of it, but it also felt slightly soft. She leaned her head back, shutting her eyes. She could feel her face starting to crumple as the tears formed. She felt so terrible and so upset.

"Oh, God. Courtney, what's wrong?"

Courtney let out a sob, instantly leaning forward and placing her face into her hands. She let out a few more sobs, grateful at Duncan's gentle touch as his hand gently rubbed up and down her back.

"What's going on?" Duncan gently asked, frowning at the state of despair that his wife was seemingly in.

Courtney let out a shaky shudder, her shaky hands trying to remove the tears from her face. She quietly said, "F-first, I-I'd like to s-say that I'm s-s..." She took a deep breath before quietly crying, "I'm so _sorry_, D-Duncan..."

He bit his lip slightly, frowning. He wasn't sure what to say.

She continued on, "I... I'm having a miscarriage, Duncan."

He blinked. He remained silent. His mind was going insane. Some of the same thoughts Courtney had was running through his mind, like the fact that they were just not prepared for another child. He began to stand up, which seemingly caused her to go into a panic.

"Don't go! _Please_!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide and fearful.

He gently smiled as he sat down on the bed next to her. "I'm not going anywhere," he softly said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

She gently smiled, wrapping an arm around his back. "I'm so glad you're here with me."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

She nodded. She quietly said, "Please don't be mad at me..."

He let out a quiet sigh. He nuzzled his face into her hair. He kissed the top of her head before murmuring, "Why would I be mad at you?"

"It's all my fault," she quietly said.

"Did you know you were pregnant?"

"No..."

"Then it's not your fault."

"But it is!" she quietly exclaimed. "If I hadn't become drunk at Bridgette and Geoff's party, then I don't think this would have happened."

"There's always the possibility this pregnancy wasn't going to work out, y'know," he softly said, wrapping another arm around her.

She let out a sigh, resting her head on his shoulder. She softly nodded. She said, "I know... I just... I like to have an explanation for things, and saying it's my fault just... I don't know, it just helps."

"I don't see why you would even want to blame yourself, though. Maybe there's no reason to this other than it was just supposed to have happened."

"I don't know," she sighed.

Courtney was given an anesthetic while the procedure was done. Duncan had stepped out of the room right before the procedure started, and would return right after it ended. He couldn't be in there while it was happening. He had no idea what to do while the procedure was happening, though. He wanted to stay in the area where the room was so he could learn of anything that happened, but wanted to see his daughter and hold her. He wanted to dial his Ma's number and tell her what had happened, but he didn't want to tell anyone. He didn't want or need anyone's pity. He was pretty sure Courtney didn't want anyone knowing, either.

He stared down the hallway, watching everyone go by. He was remembering how much he had been to this particular hospital. He had emotional problems when he was a child and saw some sort of doctor for it when he was little. On a school trip during his freshman year in high school, he had gotten into a huge fight which led him receiving treatment for a few injuries at this hospital. He had taken Courtney when they were eighteen to the hospital ten days after she had gotten attacked, for she had refused to see a doctor before that moment. Annie had been born at that hospital, which was probably the only good thing that came out of going to that hospital. Of course, Courtney's Dad had been treated for cancer there...

He let out a sigh, shaking his head. Courtney liked the hospital, and he'll admit the doctor's are good. He overall did not like hospitals, really.

"Mr. Evans?"

Duncan turned his head. Either the procedure went quickly, or he was stuck in his thoughts for a really long time. "Did it go well?" he asked, walking over to the Doctor.

She nodded. "It did. She's still passed out, but she should be awake any moment now. I'd like to keep her here overnight, though, just to keep an eye on how she heals. Is that alright?"

He nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Great. I'm going to have a nurse come and check on your wife in a few minutes, and then they'll move her into a recovery room. I'll check back on her in a little while, but please find a nurse if you need anything else."

He nodded and walked into the room. He softly smiled at the sight of Courtney slowly waking up. He jokingly questioned, "Have a good nap, sweetheart?"

She cracked a smile much to his delight. "I did," she softly said, continuing to give him a small smile as he sat down next to her. "How long did the whole thing last?"

"Not sure," he admitted. "I was thinking the entire time. But... maybe twenty minutes? Maybe thirty, actually. But I'm not sure..."

"It's over, though." She let out a sigh and said, "Thankfully."

He nodded, reaching over and grabbing her hand. "They want to keep you here overnight."

She nodded and told him, "Okay... But what about Annie?"

"Hmm..." Duncan shrugged. He was about to continue when a nurse walked into the room.

"How are you feeling, Mrs. Richardson?" the nurse asked, standing at the end of the bed.

"Good," Courtney responded.

"Good. Now, we're going to move you into a recovery room, and then if everything's fine in the morning, you'll be allowed to leave then. Alright?"

Courtney nodded. "Sounds fine to me." She turned to her husband and asked, "Will you please go get Annie?"

* * *

"I wonder why she's so tired right now..." Courtney murmured, continuing to hold her daughter in her arms.

"She woke up pretty early this morning."

"Really?"

Duncan nodded. "I got up around six to use the bathroom, and I heard her babbling through the baby monitor, so I went down to check on her, and there she was, standing up and just happily talking away."

Courtney softly smiled, continuing to softly stroke her daughter's back. "My sweet baby," she whispered.

He smiled, watching his wife. While she seemed upset earlier, she seemed at ease holding their daughter, who was currently passed out in her arms. Holding his daughter made him feel better, too. Courtney had never been through a miscarriage before, and the only other time she was pregnant was when she was pregnant with Annie. Annie, to him, was a reminder that they could have children, and that they already had one, one who was beautiful and simply amazing.

**A/N: Yeah... this was supposed to be up a few days ago... But I couldn't think of a proper ending. I still don't think this ended well, but I knew I needed to post something. Most of the beginning had been written months ago, but after a review after the last chapter, I knew what else I could write about. The next chapter should be up soon, considering a good idea pops into my head. I hope you all enjoyed this! Please review! **


	20. First Birthday

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

"Our baby turns one tomorrow...!"

Duncan chuckled, rubbing Courtney's back as they walked through the store. "That she does," he said, continuing to smile. It was getting harder and harder for him to hide his excitement. They were at the grocery store, buying a small birthday cake for their daughter. As they browsed through the cakes, he murmured, "Maybe we should buy one tomorrow, since she won't even be at the house until tomorrow..."

Courtney let out a quiet sigh, shrugging. "I'd rather have the cake now then rush out to get it tomorrow," she explained. "I'm going to miss her tonight..."

Duncan nodded, bringing his wife closer to him. Annie was going to spend the night at Courtney's parents house, and they would bring Annie over in the early afternoon. Both parents had to work the next morning, but thankfully, only for a few hours. He quietly said, "I'm going to miss her, too. But we can decorate the house and have a tiny bit of alone time, you and me..."

"You and I..." she teasingly corrected, a smile tugging at her lips.

He chuckled, kissing her temple. He continued looking inside the freezers until he stopped and said, "I think that's the perfect cake for Annie..." It was a small, round cake with vanilla frosting on top, and written in pink frosting was, "Happy 1st Birthday!"

"That is pretty cute," she murmured. She shrugged and opened the freezer door. As she grabbed it, she said, "Let's get it..."

"Sweet," he said, grinning. He watched her carefully place the cake into her basket before asking, "What next?"

"Um... I think we have everything," she said, looking into the basket. "We've got her cake, some streamers, plates, napkins, cups, ice cream, candles... Do we need anything else?"

"I think we're good."

* * *

"Our baby turns one today...!"

"Babe, go to sleep."

"I can't focus on sleeping!"

"You're going to be really tired at Annie's birthday party tomorrow if you don't get to sleep soon."

"Why do you say that?"

Courtney turned to Duncan as he slid closer to her. He explained, "It's almost one-thirty right now. We have to wake up at five-thirty. That's only four hours of sleep right there. Work already wears us out, and if you don't get to sleep soon, you're going to struggle keeping up with Annie and everyone else at the party tomorrow afternoon. I mean, tomorrow night if and when we have sex, that'll be another story..."

"Well, sex pumps up our adrenaline and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I really don't need to hear the logistics of it. Anyways..."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. She pressed her body up against his and murmured, "It's not like we haven't done this before with less sleep..."

"True..." he muttered, kissing the back of her head. "But we haven't done that in a while. I like sleeping, and I like sleeping for a long time. Thankfully we've got tomorrow off, and I'm sure Annie will pass out after the party tonight..."

"I'm not letting your Mom or mine take Annie after her party."

"Uh, I'd hope so."

"Oh, you know how they like to take her for a stroll around the neighborhood and suddenly our daughter is spending the night at one of our parents."

"Oh, they've only done it a few times..."

"I'm not letting it happen tomorrow night!"

"Okay, okay. Jeez. Chill. Go to sleep or something."

* * *

"I think we should call her."

"I don't know, Duncan..."

"What? We can't say 'happy birthday' to our little girl?"

"Maybe we should wait until later. Surprise her."

"I'm sure she's dying to hear our voices..."

"I don't want to disappoint her with a measly phone call!"

Duncan rolled his eyes, smirking. "You know you wanna talk to her," he murmured, walking over to his wife and wrapping his arms around her.

"I do," Courtney murmured, leaning over and resting her head against her husband's arm. "I want to be able to get some work done, though. I have a feeling that if I do call her, I'll just be thinking about her all day and I'll end up leaving work early and-"

"Okay, okay," he muttered, patting her arms. "You ready to go?"

"Let me grab my bag and I'll be ready," she said, leaving his grasp and walking out of the room.

Duncan smiled softly as she left the room. This day was a rather exciting one for him, and he always smiled just thinking about it. His baby girl, his angel, his everything, was turning a year old. To think that one year ago, they were... well, a year ago at that exact moment, they were asleep, but the day before, they were freaking out about becoming parents. He was surprised at how paternal he was. He was surprised that he was so protective and nurturing towards his daughter. He figured the way his Ma raised him had something to do with it.

"Earth to Duncan..."

Duncan snapped out of his thoughts and saw Courtney standing in front of him, snapping in his face. "Are you alright?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded, smiling. "Just thinking about our baby girl." He grabbed her hand as she began to softly smile. Together they walked outside and to their car, heading off to their job. As usual when they worked the same shifts, one would drive the other to and from work. Duncan was driving today, and normally she wanted him to drive with both hands on the wheel, but today she didn't mind his hand intertwined with hers, resting on her thigh. They quietly chatted about Annie, remembering moments from her first year of life.

After Duncan parked in front of the building, he leaned over and passionately kissed his wife. She returned the kiss with just as much passion. She wrapped her arms around his neck before carefully switching herself from his seat onto his lap. He placed one hand in her hair and the other on her waist, keeping a tight hold on her. They both jumped when her phone began to ring. She silently cursed herself, already realizing that she would have to hastily fix her appearance before walking inside.

Duncan wore a small smile on his face as he watched his wife talk on the phone. He didn't know who she was talking to, nor was he listening to a word she was saying. He moved his hand onto her waist and used both hands to gently massage that area of her body. He smirked at the small smile that popped up on her face, smirking even more when his hands started to go lower, causing her to turn a bit pink and turn her face away from him.

He then leaned forward and began to kiss and nibble on her neck and collarbone. He felt her breathing become more erratic. He felt her body lean into his. He heard her voice become higher, signaling that his actions both felt good and made her nervous. Unfortunately, he still didn't pay attention to what she was saying, so when she quietly said, "Duncan", he stopped nibbling on her neck. He looked up at her and was relieved to find she was off the phone.

"That was my boss," she explained. "He said I could have the day off."

Duncan couldn't help but grin. He cupped her face and his hands and kissed her once more. When his phone began to ring, he let out a groan. He let out a sigh as he grabbed his phone from his pocket. "Hello?" he muttered, not bothering to check the caller I.D.

"You alright, dude?"

He was a bit surprised to hear Geoff's voice, but said, "Yeah, dude, I'm good. What's up?" He smirked when Courtney began to lay soft kisses on his jawline and neck. He began running his hand along his side and back.

Courtney was immensely turned on by this point. What he did while she was on the phone really turned her on. Normally if he were to have done that, she would have just pushed him away. Today, it just felt so good and she didn't want it to stop. She wanted more. She ran her hands along his stomach, and proceeded to go lower when she felt herself being pushed back. She furrowed her eyebrows, certainly not expecting that to happen. She was also surprised to find him looking away, quietly but casually talking on the phone.

Duncan let out a gentle smile when his wife proceeded to lean forward and rest her head on his shoulder. He placed a hand on her back when she wrapped her arms around him. These were the moments both often yearned for, moments that haven't happened for a while now, moments where they would embrace each other like there was nothing else in the world. They hadn't had too many of those moments since Annie was born. True, they laid together every single night, and sometimes that emotional connection would be there.

"Hey," he softly said.

"Hmm?" she quietly hummed, peering up at him.

"That was Geoff. He said that all I have to do is show up to this meeting at ten and that's all I have to work today."

Courtney grinned and tightened her grip around her husband. She then quietly said, "Let's go out to breakfast."

* * *

"Did Annie have a good first birthday?" Courtney asked, happily smiling at her daughter. She was holding onto Annie's hands as Annie stood a few feet away from her.

"No."

"'_No_'?" Courtney exclaimed, her eyes wide and her face shocked. She let out a sigh of relief when Annie burst into a fit of giggles. She leaned forward and gave her daughter a kiss. "You cheeky little baby," she quietly said, smiling when Annie continued to giggle. She then scooted back another foot, letting go of Annie's hands. She held them out slightly and asked, "Will you walk to me, baby?"

Annie let out a squeal of delight as Duncan walked through the door. He chuckled at his daughter's delight and bent down, kissing his wife. He then plopped down next to her and said, "Sorry that took so long."

"It's okay," Courtney said, smiling at him. "I'm just seeing if Annie will walk..."

"Hmm..." Duncan said. He looked over at their daughter, who was carefully looking at her feet. His eyes widened when she took her first choppy step towards them. He heard Courtney let out a tiny gasp when their daughter continued to take slow, choppy steps towards them. He felt his heart swell with joy as she made her way towards them. They had been talking about this moment for months now. He was a bit heartbroken to see Annie making her way towards Courtney, but couldn't help but beam when he saw Annie give Courtney a sloppy kiss on the face. Maybe he was responsible for Annie suddenly taking her first steps, since she basically repeated his actions from when he walked in and gave Courtney a kiss.

"You walked!" Courtney said, scooping Annie in her arms and planting kisses all over her face. "And you gave me a super sweet kiss..."

Duncan leaned over and rested his head on Courtney's shoulder. He smirked when Annie looked at him and opened her mouth, puckering it slightly. He leaned forward and gave her the kiss she wanted. He told his daughter, "I don't think you could have had a more perfect first birthday, baby."

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. But thank you all for the reviews! Do keep them coming! And I hope you all enjoyed this!**


	21. Leaving

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted._

Courtney let out a sad sigh, staring at her computer screen. She worriedly stared at the screen, biting her lip. What she had just done was something she had been putting off for a few weeks now, and she wasn't sure she was doing it until that exact moment. She let in a quick breath and quickly closed that page as she heard her husband enter the house. She then decided to just close her laptop before slowly standing up and walking out of the room. She smiled at her husband as he walked over to her. He softly smiled at her, but remained silent as he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding onto her tightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck, gently rubbing the top of his back.

"How was work today?" she softly asked.

He let out a sigh, kissing the crook of her neck. He murmured, "Bad."

She frowned and shut her eyes. She was already regretting the decision she made a few minutes prior, but knew she had to go forth with it. She kissed his temple and softly said, "I'm sorry. What happened?"

"Geoff and I got chewed out."

"What for?"

"We apparently don't take our jobs seriously. I'm sorry that we like to have a little bit of fun while we're working...!"

"Who got you in trouble?"

"A couple of the other employees. One of the district managers came to visit, and they told him about us, so he sat down with us for a while..." He let out another sigh, slowly rocking their bodies back and forth. He then quietly asked, "How was your day?"

"It was good," she softly said.

"How was Annie?"

"Wonderful, as usual."

"Is she asleep?"

Courtney nodded and said, "She went to sleep about an hour ago."

Duncan let out another quiet sigh. Without saying a word, he slowly let go of his wife and walked away from her. She furrowed her eyebrows and slowly followed him into their room. Before she could say anything, he quietly said, "I'm sorry, Court. I'm just really..." He turned around, giving her a small smile and a shrug.

She softly smiled at him. "You had a bad day, it's okay." She walked up to him and placed a hand on his cheek before giving him a soft kiss. She then wrapped her arms around his torso, resting her head on his chest.

"Are you okay?" he softly asked, softly rubbing her back.

She nodded and quietly said, "I'm fine."

He nodded, kissing the top of her head. He slowly rocked their bodies once more, keeping his hands firmly placed on her back. He quietly said, "I don't want to get fired, Court."

"You won't get fired," she quietly said, looking up at him. "They won't fire you over something little like this. They'll just give you a warning and tell you not to do it again."

"This isn't the first time those employees have complained, though," he quietly said, looking away at this point.

She remained silent for a moment, her fingers gently tapping along his chest as she thought of a solution. She finally said, "Well, if you do get fired, you'll just have to find a new job. With all the people we know, I'm sure someone knows of some sort of job opening..."

He nodded, once more kissing the top of her head. "You're right."

"I know," she smugly said, smirking at him.

He chuckled, shaking his head. He then said, "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

"I bet," she said, smiling softly. "Annie wore me out a little bit tonight."

"What happened?" he asked, leaving her embrace and walking over to their closet.

She walked over to their bed and sat down as she said, "All she wanted to do tonight was walk around. I could barely hold her before she started screaming."

He chuckled, tossing off his work clothes. He tossed on a t-shirt, remaining in his boxers. He asked, "She's not running yet, is she?"

"Close, but not yet."

He nodded, sitting down next to his wife. He quietly said, "Wow... Look at her, Court."

She nodded, reaching over and grabbing his hand. She quietly said, "Look at us."

"I wouldn't change anything, y'know."

"I know. I wouldn't, either." She tapped her fingers against her leg and quietly said, "It's not something we expected, but..."

When she didn't continue, he quietly said, "But...?"

She shook her head. She softly smiled as she looked up at her husband. She softly said, "I didn't mean to say 'but'. Well, I meant to, but I have nothing to add to that. She's nothing we expected. Being parents isn't something we expected..."

He frowned slightly when he saw tears form in her eyes. He quietly asked, "Courtney, what's wrong?"

Courtney quickly shook her head, looking away from Duncan. She quietly said, "It's nothing. Just nearing that time of the month, I guess..."

Duncan slightly nodded, laying a kiss on her forehead. He quietly said, "If you say so..."

* * *

"Courtney! Why are you telling me this?"

"I have to tell somebody, Bridgette."

"Then why not tell Duncan?"

Courtney sighed, turning around and facing her almost hysterical best friend. She quietly said, "Duncan will tell me not to get help. I figured, I have to do this on my own."

"You know he'll be upset," Bridgette pointed out, frowning softly.

Courtney nodded, biting her lip. She softly said, "I know. But, I've got a note for him. He'll just have to accept that I'll be gone for a few days."

Bridgette nodded before letting out a sigh. "You are telling him Annie will be at my house, right?"

"I'm about to, and he'll pick her up when he gets off."

"Girl, I don't even know if I can be there when Duncan picks up Annie..."

"Just leave Annie with Geoff and... and act like you need to pick up something right before Duncan gets there."

"Sounds like you've put a little thought into this..." Bridgette murmured.

Courtney let out another sigh, an exasperated sigh emerging from her mouth. "I have," she quietly admitted. "But I'm not going back on this, Bridge."

"I know," Bridgette sighed. Before she could say anything, Courtney happily said, "Finished!"

"How long will you be gone?" Bridgette asked, watching her best friend pull the suitcase off the bed.

"Three days. Well, four, I guess. The program is three days itself, and it starts tomorrow, and I'll be coming back the day after the last one."

"Try to call me if you can," Bridgette said leaning forward and hugging Courtney.

Courtney smiled, softly wrapping her arms around her friend. "I will," she softly said. She then said, "Let's go find Annie and you two can be on your way."

* * *

Duncan let out a long sigh, walking into his apartment. After a long, long day at work, all he wanted to do was lay in bed with his wife. He knew she would chatter on and on _and on_ about her day, but he didn't mind that. Annie was fast asleep in her carrier, and he carefully put her into her crib. After shutting her bedroom door, he called out, "Court?"

Silence.

He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment before shrugging. Maybe she was asleep. He walked into their bedroom and was surprised to find the lights off and her not in there. He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw that her suitcase was missing.

Maybe she put it into the attic.

"Court?"

Silence.

Maybe she was in the basement?

"Courtney?"

Silence.

He checked every single room in the house, every single closet. He even looked outside and then realized her car was missing.

"Oh, my God..."

**A/N: Drama! Part one of three! I know this was confusing and short, but more will be revealed in the next chapters. Review!**


End file.
